TAKHAR (Agencies): Officials at the Commission to Fight Land Grabbers in Takhar say the process of returning usurped state-owned land is ongoing in this province.
The commission officials say over the last four decades, thousands of hectares of government land in the center and districts of Takhar have been usurped by powerful individuals and local commanders.
So far, 3,000 acres of land has been taken back out of 300,00 acres of usurped land in Takhar province, officials said.
“100,000 acres of land may have been assessed by us. In total, we have returned about 3,000 acres of land. We have leased them and may deposited two million afghanis from the revenue of these lands to the government treasury,” said Rahimullah Ahadi, head of the land grabbing prevention commission in Takhar.
The governor of Takhar has also ordered the local authorities in the districts to cooperate with the commission in identifying and returning the usurped lands.
“District governors, chief commanders, intelligence and virtue ministry should pay serious attention to the usurped lands,” said Obaidullah Aminzadeh, governor of Balkh.
Meanwhile, the residents of Takhar have criticized the slowness in the process of reclaiming usurped lands, saying that since the commission establishment, thousands of acres of government land are still in the hands of usurpers and they are using it.
The officials of this commission have stated that they have completed the assessment of usurped lands in several districts and soon the investigation of usurped lands will begin in several other districts.
3,000 acres of usurped state land reclaimed
