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Promoting Economic Use of Customary Land.

Since 2005 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided technical assistance (TA) to the government to consider issues and options in the context of making economic use of customary land. The Phase I Report (March 2006) endorsed the option of permitting leases of customary land to be mortgaged and made various recommendations to implement such arrangements. Phase II of the ADB support resulted in the establishment of the Customary Land Advisory Commission (CLAC) to oversee future reforms in this context. And now Phase III focuses on the legal issues and necessary legal reforms to finally bring the years of deliberation and consultation to fruition.

The ADB TA in Phase III is tasked with the following core objectives:
(a) To establish a functional Legal Working Group (LWG) which will liaise with the Bankers’ Association and other key stakeholders; and
(b) To establish a leasing framework (including registration processes for security interests over customary land leases; protection of security interests; publicizing security interests affecting leases of  the customary land; and processes for repossessing or reselling leases in the event of a default under the mortgage).

Publication