Land Act amendments to allow private ownership of land

Parliament began debate today on amendments proposed to the Land Act of 2002 to allow citizens to use land as a commercial asset.

Presenting the draft legislation on behalf of the government, MP Abdul Gafoor Moosa explained that the amendments would allow land to be bought and sold as privately-owned assets.

“In our long history, land was used as a gift given by the government to its supporters,” he said. “After [years of] distributing land like this in Male’, the new generation gets a plot the size of a bed. There is nothing left for tomorrow’s generation.”

The amendments would create a Land and Survey Authority to draw territorial charts, conduct surveys of land use and valuate property, he added, as well as a Registrar of Land to maintain a national registry.