On February 20-21 and March 7, 2014, the USAID Land Reform and Farm Restructuring Project (LRFRP) collaborated with the State Register to conduct a series of trainings related to the new State registration process of immovable property for over 200 state executive officials. The rayon directors of the State Registry responsible for implementing the new system of land registration as well as employees from the inter-district bureaus on technical registration of immovable property representing from the 12 Feed the Future districts, participated in these trainings in Qurghonteppa.
Based on a new Tajik Government resolution, the State Registry (Markaz-zamin) is now responsible for implementing land reform and developing a streamlined registration process. Previously, farmers had to appeal to different agencies in order to obtain signatures and permissions, to register immovable property and acquire a land-use certificate. “The information and documentation the agencies requested from farmers often contradicted one another, which led to financial losses as well as delaying the process of certificate acquisition”, said Saltanat Sangova of the Bokhtar Rayon Registry.
As a result of these trainings, government officials gained the necessary knowledge and skills related to streamlining the registration process. Attendees received the new uniform and nationally recognized property registration documentation. They also received training on procedural formalities and rules and regulations related to property rights and registration.
By facilitating the acquisition of land-use certificates, these trainings contribute to strengthening government capacity to monitor and implement the land reform process. “Thanks to these trainings, officials of the Markaz-zamin were familiarized with the legal implementation of registration operations with immovable property and can now successfully put this knowledge into practice” said Akram Kakhorov, head of Markaz- zamin.
Participants of these trainings will begin to implement the information they learned in their respective pilot regions over the next few months. “The simplified registration system will save money, time and effort of farmers that will lead to an increase in the number of newly created dekhkan farms” added Mr. Kakhorov.