The familiarisation tour was to access their working conditions, the challenges they face and the way forward.He said: “we are here to acquaint ourselves with your challenges and help you solve it” adding that the workers are the operational backbone of the ministry.The Minister first visited the Lands Commission where a staff durbar was held to formally introduce him to the staff and management of the Institution.

Speaking at the event, Mr Amewu said the Lands Commission played a very critical role in the developmental agenda of every government. “For any government at all to succeed, Land and natural resources have the partial index to that agenda,” he added.The Minister said his ministry would assist the Lands Commission to succeed in its agenda to shorten the registration period of land title to 30 days, which currently took 90 days to complete.

As part of the tour, the Minister visited the site of an ongoing construction of a three-storey building for the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Lands Commission located at Cantonment.The Minister noted that the aggressive selling of public lands by individuals was a worrying trend and should therefore be brought to an end.

Dr Wilfred K. Anim-Odame, the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, said his outfit was willing to work effectively with the sector minister.He said: “the management and staff of the Commission look forward to building a stronger partnership with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and we know this would yield a solid synergy to transform the land market in Ghana”.

In mentioning the needs of the Commission, Dr Anim-Odame stated that they were in dire need of critical staff such as land administrators, surveyors, lawyers, Information Technology experts and administrators.

Other needs identified were the “adequate financial support from the government and if possible a 100 per cent retention of its Internally Generated Funds.“The Commission is in a dire need of computers, survey equipment in large numbers and robust software to facilitate the migration from a manual environment onto a digital platform,” he added.

The Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission reiterated their commitment and cooperation with Mr Amewu to transform the land administration in the country. “We wish to pledge our unflinching support and loyalty to make your tenure of office very successful and resulted-oriented,” he said.   

The Chief Director of the Ministry, Professor Bruce Kofi Banoeng-Yakubo and Mr Benito Owusi-Bio, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Natural Resources accompanied the Minister.