The South Sudan Land Commission has pledged to investigate the findings of a report saying nine percent of the land in the new country belongs to foreign investors.
A Norwegian People’s Aid report called New Frontiers revealed last week that nine percent of the country has been bought by foreign investment.The report said that 28 foreign and domestic investors bought a total of 2.64 million hectares of land for the agriculture, forestry and bio-fuel sectors.
The head of the South Sudan Land Commission, Robert Ladu Loki, said the investors’ contracts will be investigated adding that buyers cannot deal with villagers to lease big chunks of land without the permission of the government.
David Deng, an official with the NPA who co-authors the report, says many investors did not comply with the legal procedures to acquire the land.
He added that the communities see the influx of investment as development opportunities for their rural areas.
Mr. Deng said that without the appropriate procedures in place there is a danger that large scale land investment will produce displacement and conflict while undermining local livelihoods.
According to the report, one United Arab Emirates company called Al Ain Wildlife has leased the entire area of Boma National Park at 22,800 square kilometres, while an American company, Nile Trading and Development, has leased 6,000 square kilometres of land outside Juba.
The report asked the government to consider a temporary ban on large-scale land acquisition projects until institutions are better established.