Challenges of effective state land management Willi Zimmermann Land Policies and Legal Empowerment o


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Challenges of effective state land
managementWilli ZimmermannLand Policies
and Legal Empowerment of the PoorWorkshop
November 2-3 2006 World Bank Washington DC
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Challenges of effective state land management

• The range of problems
• Why should we bother
• The challenge ahead
• Learning from country cases
• Canada Egypt and Cambodia
• Towards a governance and accountability chain
  building a framework around good practices
• What could be done at international level
• What could be done at national level

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The story of public land is a mixed story about
power relations the ever changing relationship
between the state and the citizens bad
experiences during periods of colonisation and
nationalisation. In some countries we see
positive trends during the last two decades in
terms of restitution acceptance of native
claims decentralisation and the new role of the
state in other places we face accelerated
looting of state assets.
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The Range of Problems

• Political interference in allocation and
  acquisition of public land
• Vested interest of powerful people lead to strong
  resistance for better governance and transparency
  (free good) land grabbing illicit land swaps
  and eviction
• Lack of policy orientation (Land Policy Fiscal
  Policy central level versus local governance)
• Lack of information about where is what
• Fragmented institutional arrangements (often on
  purpose)
• The state does not protect its property assets
• Central level interests over-ride local resource
  rights

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In summary Deficiencies in managing state land
could be divided into four topics

• There is a lack of awareness and policy
  orientation (fiscal policy land policy)
• The state is failing in providing enabling
  infrastructure information and services for
  managing state land
• The state is violating basic rights of the people
• Powerful people are looting state property assets

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Just a few examples out of hundredsfor
illustrating the reality

• Global survey on forced evictions on state land
  (cohre www.cohre.org)
• Land grabbing in Kenya (Human right watch report
  Kenya www.hrw.org
• Human right violation on state land Cambodia
  UNHCR report 2004
• Mining concessions on state land violating state
  common property rights (ILC)
• Illicit land swaps Indonesia and Cambodia
• Central government allocations over-ride local
  common property rights (OXFAM)
• Beneficiaries of land allocation are mainly
  politicians and a privileged minority (IIED)

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Searching for good experiences

• Only few countries did explicitly and
  comprehensively tackle the deficiencies of their
  public land management system
• Little information is available on such reform
  processes compared to land registration supported
  by intern. donors
• FAO UN-Habitat GTZ and some others are working
  on the subject but have not yet come up with
  conclusions
• Good Governance in Public Property Management is
  work in progress there is a long way to go

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Searching for pattern and country clusters

• To understand the syndromes of weak governance in
  managing state land we have to understand the
  underlying problems and identify country clusters
  broad enough to preserve important communalities
• Cluster 1 New public management countries
• Cluster 2 Influence markets and elite cartels
• Cluster 3 Oligarchs and clans
• Cluster 4 Capture States
• Cluster 5 Conflict and post-conflict countries

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Principles for selecting country cases

• Look at different cluster situations
• In different regions
• In countries where some lessons can be learned
  from processes
• Canada cluster 1 Americas
• Egypt cluster 3 North Africa
• Cambodia cluster 5 East-Asia

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Case study Canada www.tbs.sct-gc.ca and Urban
Institute Washington

• Canada initiated a state reform program in the
  90th with fundamental changes for public sector
  services and fiscal policy
• Resulting in Treasury Board Public Property
  Management Framework guiding principles for
  result orientation stewardship values and
  citizen focus
• The custodian concept is the heart TB as center
  and networks with 87 custodians
• A complete accountability chain is in place
  (legal framework custodian portfolio auditing
  reporting performance indicator

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DFRP Federal and provincial public property data
base 26 000 properties of 87 custodians 306
000 sqkm public property 47 000 buildings
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• Highest functionality standards (Directory)
• Easy access to information and knowledge
• Custodians are accountable for the quality and
  adequacy of information
• Publication of comprehensive audit guide for
  public property
• Disposal of all surplus land by special purpose
  cooperation CLC
• Good practice example in handling native claims
  (dialogue legal base transparency)
• What core elements (not the model as such) that
  could be used in other countries

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Case study EgyptWB Public Land Management
Strategy April 2006

• Population concentrates on 5 of Egypt
• Up to now Sectoral development model
• Accumulation of layers of legislation (40 y)
• 45 laws and degrees often conflicting
• Highly complex institutional landscape for
  managing public property (Zimam system)
• System has no relevance for urban dev.
• Prime Minister is guiding reform process
• Three stage model short medium long

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• Reform process for public property is part of the
  state reform (Urban dev. Investment)
• Development and discussion of three reform
  scenarios
• Retain existing institutional landscape and
  improve coordination and mandates
• Reengineer and consolidate institutional system
  and establish a public land bank
• Reengineer institutional system following a
  decentralized approach (Governorates)
• There is Internal and external policy dialogue
• Accompanying the process will provide lessons

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Case study Cambodia

• Tackling the overall state land topic in a
  post-conflict/transition situation
• 80 should be public property but reality on
  the ground differs totally
• LMAP is supporting RGC in all aspects of the land
  sector. (Multi-donor program)
• Broad internal and external dialogue
• Enabling rules and regulations (policy papers
  land law 6 degrees technical tools)
• State land matters come under the Land Policy
  Board and the provincial PLUAC
• Strong engagement and role of NGOs

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• Achievements State land component is operational
  in building the regulatory framework (including
  recovery of state land) institutional setting
  enabling technical tools and capacity building
• But In a cluster 5 situation laws are not
  enforced there are impunity practices rule of
  power continues there is no disclosure of old
  concession contracts
• Conclusion Dont give up but projects in cluster
  4 and 5 situations dealing with state land
  require complementary diagnostic surveys beyond
  the project design strategic support
  (conditionality anti-corruption agency judicial
  reform)

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Land Swap Phnom Penh(value added model)

• Fill water bodies grab and fence adjacent land
  (through shadow land developer)
• Make use of public infrastructure (financed by
  ADB and EU)
• Swap and consolidate with central city public
  land (MJ Court)
• Sell the land to investor for some millions of

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Towards a framework for public land governance

• Policy orientation and strategy
• A regulatory framework law enforcement
• Expanding the tool box
• Regularization process
• Specialized anti-corruption agency
• Land management rules for public property
• Institutional landscape
• Fiscal management audit annual performance
  indicators
• Inventory and information system
• The role of civil society and profess. Assoc

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Policy and strategy considerations

• Building awareness driving forces Fiscal
  reform conditionality public sector reform
• Statement that public property is held in trust
  for the people
• Rules for transfer from central to local
  government and for disposal of surplus
• Rules for allocation and acquisition
• Principle for capitalization of public property
  market value principle auction
• Classification of public property 1 2 3
• Defining the accountability principles
• Defining the custodian concept

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Regulatory framework

• Defining public property and classifying public
  property
• Conversion rules acquisition allocation
• Resettlement regulation (fair and just)
• Land exchange (land swap) regulation
• Contracts (regulation for concessions and leasing
  like disclosure public display right to
  appeal) contract law compliance
• Continuum of common property rights on state
  land partial interest bundle of rights
• Mechanism for dispute resolution

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Expanding the operational tool box depending on
cluster specific situations

• Land acquisition
• Land allocation
• Land disposal privatisation
• Land expropriation
• Land regularisation
• Land valuation for non-economic use of state
  land
• Land settlement
• Resettlement
• Land exchange (swap)
• Land licenses leases
• Land concessions

• Land banking
• Recovery of state property
• Land use planning zoning
• Co-management models between central and local
  government and between state and the commons
• State land inventory and LIS
• Dispute resolution and conflict prevention

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Regularization of public property is an important
governance procedure Why

• Existing cases of invasion
• Informal settlements in rural and urban public
  land
• Public land cannot be located
• Appropriation of public right of way
• Fuzzy boundaries and unclear bundle of rights in
  natural resource tenure
• Partial interest or clarification of continuum
• Concession areas on public land are not
  demarcated and are unclear

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Good practices for RegularisationSouth Africa
Trinidad Tobago UN-Habitat Cambodia visual
evidence informal possession illegal occupation

1991
2002
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Anti-corruption Agencies Hongkong Pakistan
Uganda BotswanaBotswana DCEC www.gov.bw/governme
nt/dcec/

• Three pronged attack principle Investigation
  Prevention and Education
• Annual reporting (published and www.)
• 2001 report abuse of Land Board procedures and
  allegations of corrupt state land allocations
  have been reported in press and received by DCEC.
  DCEC conducted a detailed study with a view to
  eliminate opportunities for corruption and make
  allocation processes fully transparent
• Specific training for land boards
• Convicting of two land board staff

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Land management and public property

• Clarification of different classification models
• Public land and common property regimes
• State common property clarification of resource
  rights bundle of rights
• Registration of partial interest
• Co-management models for NRM (the concept of
  sharing power IUCN IIED
• Participatory LUP (FAO GTZ PLUP)
• Common property regimes case studies 2005 (FAO
  IFAD CAPRi ILC

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Good governance principles forpublic land
concessions

• Agricultural concessions
• Malaysia model and new regulations Cambodia
• Forest concessions (FAO Forestry series 145 and
  139 on law compliance and principles)
• Extracting industries (mining) Transparency
  initiative publish what you pay finding common
  ground mining and indigenous rights (IIED)
  resource revenue guide IMF)
• Carbon sequestration schemes on pasture land and
  degraded forest social forestry

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Auditing guides Good practices

• Governance in the Public Sector
• A Governing Body Perspective (www.ifac.org )
  
• Revised Code of Good Practices on Fiscal
  Transparency IMF 2005
• Real Property Information Audit Guide
• DFRP Canada

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Good practices Information systems and
mappingEgypt all state land on one map
scaleCanada Meta data map and identifier for
small state parcels
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Example of a land status map for strategic
decision making (Australia)
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Performance ReportingGood Practices

• BLM 2005 Annual Report
• http//www.blm.gov/
• The BLMs Mission and Organizational Structure
• Performance Goals and Results
• Systems Controls and Legal Compliance
• Discussion and Analysis of the Financial
  Statements
• Financial Statements
• Stewardship Assets and Lands
• Natural Heritage Assets
• Cultural Heritage Properties
• Investment in Research and Development
• BML Independent Auditors Report

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What can be done at international level

• Creating awareness managing government property
  assets the challenge of governance and
  accountability
• Model diagnostic governance check
• Cluster specific tailored advisory services for
  financial and technical cooperation (based on
  good practices
• Knowledge management updated statistical
  information and analysis on state property
  (global scale) knowledge network
• Create network and modules for capacity building
• More tailored research on topics like compendium
  of state property legislation capitalisation of
  state property partial interest registration
• Integrate and discuss the state land issue in
  professional circles WB TF UN-Habitat UNDP
  FIG FIAC local government associations

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What could be done at national level 10 points

• Awareness and recognition in Governments
• An explicit policy framework and commitment to
  this framework is developed governance check
• The regulatory framework is reviewed analysed
  and eventually complemented or made coherent
• Accountability chain and performance benchmarks
• Transparent fiscal management procedures
• The institutional stakeholder model (custodians)
  designed and approved (assess different options)
• Government property asset board is set up to lead
  and integrate strategy
• Inventory and regularisation of public land is
  regulated and initiated
• Information system and knowledge network is
  established
• Public property asset (and facility) management
  is recognised as a professional occupation