COMFORT AKUDIANG, Jos.
Peter Nyam Gai, Plateau state Commissioner for the Ministry of Lands, Survey, and Town Planning has disclosed that between January and August this year,2024, his ministry has generated about five hundred million naira through strategizing of it’s services to Plateau Public.
According to him, since he assumed Office about a year ago, he took over the role of overseeing land administration, surveying, and town planning on the Plateau.
He said this role includes among other things, managing the right of occupancy and issuing certificates of occupancy, ensuring that all lands and titles in Plateau State to ensure they are properly mapped and documented..
Barr Nyam Gai disclosed this at a Press Conference held at NUJ Centre in Jos.
He, hinted that when he assumed Office over a year ago, he took over the responsibility of *revamping the ministry’s Office infrastructures as resuming duties, he discovered that the Ministry was plagued by decayed infrastructure.
“I made it a priority to renovate and remodel the town planning block, and for the first time in our history, we now have a fully functional boardroom to facilitate our operations”.
He added that because he deeply values dedication and hard work of his staff, he wasted no time in enhancing their working environment saying he provided his workforce better office accommodation, introduced bus tickets, and also established a well-being center, all aimed at improving staff morale and productivity.
On the strength of work force in the ministry, Gai said he inherited a system where land title processing required up to 88 workflows. Realizing the inefficiency, but stressed that he took steps to streamline these processes, significantly reducing the time it takes to process applications.
Barr Gai added that they have embraced Automation in the ministry ,there by Moving away from the outdated manual system.
He stressed that he spearheaded the transition to an automated GIS platform saying that this transformation has reduced the time required to issue certificates of occupancy from several years to just two to three months.
He added that they have also been able to within one year, addressed Public Compliance Issues saying that when he came on board, he noticed delays in processing land titles often stem from applicants failing to pay the necessary fees and decided to sensitize the public to comply with all requirements to prevent incomplete applications and unnecessary delays.
According to him, there is now significant revenue generation Increase Under his leadership, stressing that the Ministry has seen a substantial increase in revenue generation from ₦173 million between January and September 2023 last year,.
” we have nearly tripled that figure in 2024, reaching almost ₦500 million by August this year”
While speaking On Monitoring and Evaluation in the ministry, Barr Nyam Gai said he personally oversee the Ministry’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) unit to ensure that the ministry processes are expedited and that files move at the required pace to minimize bottlenecks.
He also told the Plateau public that they have Improved Cadastral Mapping with with the implementation of the GIS platform.
According to Plateau Commissioner, they can now within his ministry, prevent land encroachments more effectively.
” Before issuing any title, we thoroughly check for potential encroachments to protect the integrity of land ownership.”
He Encouraged ground rent Payment on the Plateau, stressing that despite the fact that the state government has offered a 50% rebate on ground rent, he noticed that many landowners are yet to take advantage of this. .
“I encourage all landowners to pay their ground rent promptly to avoid future penalties and ensure the sustainability of our operations”
On digitization and File Security in the ministry,the Commissioner said One of ministry challenges has been the issue of missing files, particularly those not yet digitized and that to address this, he was considering the implementation of a document management system that will digitize all remaining files, towards ensuring data security and easy access.
He added that they were making moves towards expanding their Professional Workforce to enhance the ministry’s efficiency further,
“I recognize the need to expand our professional workforce. We require more land officers and town planners to meet the growing demands of our Ministry” Gai stressed.
On Upgrade of the GIS System in the Ministry of lands and Town Planning on the Plateau, Gai said the current GIS system, which was deployed in 2015, has not been upgraded, leading to some lost services but added that he was working on developing a new local website that would be integrated with the GIS system to restore and enhance their services.
He assured the Plateau public of his ministry commitment to Public Accountability assuring that the ministry is now operating under a government dedicated to transparency and public accountability on the Plateau.
He assured the Plateau public of his committment to ensuring that every official in the Ministry can give a clear account of their stewardship, maintaining the trust of the public.
On his vision for the future, Barr Peter Nyam Gai said is looking ahead, adding that he was determined to elevating his Ministry to a “special ministry” status, in a bid to make it one of the top revenue-generating agencies in Plateau State.
He promised to his ministry second only to the Plateau State Internal Revenue Service.
” This vision drives every decision and action I take as your Commissioner.” Barr Nyam Gai stressed.
