Luanda - The Ombudswoman, Florbela Araújo, and the minister of Territorial Administration, Dionísio da Fonseca, on Monday discussed mechanisms to improve information to citizens in order to avoid land conflicts.
Speaking to the press at the end of the meeting granted to her by the minister, the Angolan Ombudswoman said that it is necessary to also disseminate the spatial planning laws and the local development master plans to avoid land conflicts.
She added that the citizen would still have difficulty in recognising their rights, but the state should assure the information to avoid illegal occupation of land and construction without a licence.
For this reason, she suggested amending and updating the land law and the spatial planning to adapt them to current realities.
Florbela Araújo argued that land legislation and spatial planning should be more practical and faster when it comes to issuing licences and surface right certificates and called for greater sensitivity in situations related to the rehousing of citizens.
She also considered that it is crucial for provincial governments and municipal administrations to improve enforcement and communication so that they can discourage the practice of building on unauthorised land in a timely manner.
"It would be more sensible to prevent the construction of a property without a licence or other administrative impediment before the work begins, than to demolish it after the citizen has utilised his little money, claiming that it is state-owned reserve land", she said.
Florbela Araújo requested the minister to facilitate the assembling process of the Ombuds's Office in the provincial governments, aiming to expand services and promote a closer relationship with citizens.
Within the framework of this strategy, she informed that focal points should be set up with officials from the Ombuds's Office and the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MAT) to raise the level of information for citizens and help solve specific problems as quickly as possible.
The official said that she had been informed of the preparation of a process to amend the land and spatial planning laws.
She also pointed out that the Ombudswoman's main concerns include the time it takes to process cases in the courts, the situation of pensioners and land conflicts.
JFS/SC/MRA/jmc
