Speaking to Journalists at her office on Wednesday, Madam Amelia Queens Cassell said she received an invitation from Bong County Superintendent Hawa Norris in June this year, following the arrival of a team from the Ministry of Public Works to conduct the exercise.
According to Madam Cassell, she insisted that the zoning exercise should be carried out by the Liberia Land Authority, which has the legal mandate to administer land matters in Liberia.
She said she also requested the County Administration to contact her superiors at the Liberia Land Authority to authorize the Authority’s participation in the process.
However, Madam Cassell told Radio Gbarnga that, to her surprise, the Public Works team was dispatched into the field by the County Administration to conduct the zoning exercise.
She disclosed that her office has received a series of complaints from residents of Gbarnga concerning the marking of homes that are not located along alleys, as well as the creation of new alleys other than those established by licensed surveyors in the county.
Madam Cassell alarmed the usurpation of the Land Authority’s functions by other agencies of government, calling for the intervention of the Executive Branch of Government.
She warned that the overlapping of responsibilities delegated to the Authority by the Act that established the Liberia Land Authority is contributing to increased land conflicts across Liberia, while the Liberia Land Authority is often blamed for the resulting disputes.