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Final Conversion of Customary Land To Freehold Title

Land Tenure Conversion - Customary to freehold

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Bethel Yuka
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110 views

Final Conversion of Customary Land To Freehold Title

Land Tenure Conversion - Customary to freehold

Uploaded by

Bethel Yuka
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Conversion of Customary Land to Freehold Title

Introduction
Customary land with secure title is critical for investments and economic
development. Secure titles provide customary land owners with a means
to obtain loans and mortgages. This security is achieved through a process
called tenure conversion, which converts the status of customary or
unalienated land into fee simple or freehold title. Once converted,
customary tenure ceases to apply.
The primary legislation governing this conversion is the Land Tenure
Conversion Act 1963. This Act facilitates the creation of freehold titles,
which are provided for under the Land (Ownership of Freeholds) Act
1976. The ability to hold freehold land is aligned with Section 56(1)(b) of
the National Constitution of PNG, which restricts freehold land ownership
to citizens.
The Land Commission Act 2022 further facilitates the tenure conversion
process established by the 1963 Act. It consolidates the Land Titles
Commission (LTC) and the National Lands Commission into a single Land
Commission (Parliament of Papua New Guinea). The LTC, previously
established by the Land Titles Commission Act (1962), dealt with
customary land, while the National Lands Commission managed state
land.
In the context of customary land, the PNG Land Commission acts as a
quasi-judicial tribunal similar to the former LTC. Its jurisdiction is limited
to tenure conversion applications and disputes concerning whether a
particular piece of land is customary land or not. This paper will explain
the detailed processes involved in converting customary land to freehold
title under the Land Tenure Conversion Act 1963.

1
The Process of Tenure Conversion
Application and dealing with application: s.7& s.8 of LTC Act 1963
The process of Tenure Conversion is initiated when an application for
registration of customary land by a citizen either in his or its name of any
customary land or of an interest in customary land is made under section
7 of the Land Tenure Conversion Act 1963. Following this the
Commission deals with the application as per section 8 by adjudicating
the land rights by determining whose has ownership rights and interest in
the land according to custom. This process is accompanied by survey
plans of the proposed lands where a demarcation committee demarcates
the boundaries of and the extent of the individual's landed interest.
Additionally subject to section 13 of the Act, The Commission shall take
such action as will ensure with reasonable certainty that the boundaries
of land on a conversion plan are permanently identifiable on the ground.
A notice of the application is then published to ensure that all
stakeholders receive a reasonable notice of 30 days within which they are
allowed to object to the application on the grounds of conflicting claims
to the land under consideration. / On the grounds that he has claim to the
customary land.
Conversion Order: s.9
Pursuant to section 9 of the Land Tenure Conversion Act 1963, after the
expiration of the 30-day period a Conversion Order is made by the
Commission provided that all individuals with right and interest in the land
agree to the conversion and those who are not made joint owners or have
their rights or interest protected on the Register as 'encumbrances, must
be adequately compensated for loss or reduction of their rights.
According to section 10 of the Act, the procedure to follow when issuing
a conversion order requires the Commission to deal with applications or
objections by considering or either adjourning multiple applications
2
together and determining persons interested in the land subject to the
application.
Registration
Once all the requirements are met, conversion order to issue COT is
forwarded to the Registrar of Titles at DLPP established under the Land,
under Section 15 of the Act (Land Tenure Conversion Act, 1963). The
Registrar of Titles then issues a Certificate of Title which serves as the
freehold title over the land of interest.
Conclusion
In conclusion

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