Owners of landed property and buildings in Bayelsa State may lose them to the state following a declaration by Governor Seriake Dickson that the government would acquire such property for infrastructural development.
The governor, who said this on Tuesday in Yenagoa while inaugurating the state Land Use and Allocation Committee, however, said N750,000, was the maximum amount payable for a hectare of land acquired by the government.
This, he said, was in line with the policy of the state government on land acquisition, adding that the state would pay compensation on any value added to such parcels of land.
According to him, no landlord will be allowed to hold the state to ransom for any piece of land it needs for development.
He said, "If private buildings are to be taken over in the public interest, which are allowed in the Land Use Act, I will not hesitate to sign the appropriate acquisition notices."
He emphasised the need for people to make sacrifice for the restoration of the state, saying the interest of the people should be placed above personal interest.
He said the government would begin the acquisition of such interested areas, reserve them and make adequate plans for their future use.
He warned members of the public who had encroached on government land to vacate such places, adding that government was ready to reclaim all its lost land.
He said, "For landlords or persons who have collected compensation and have gone ahead to sell government land without its authorisation, you can be assured that the law will catch up with you."
Stressing the importance of land for development, he said his administration was poised to make Yenagoa a befitting state capital of the Ijaw Nation.
He said the committee was expected to manage the state's land resources and advise the authorities on how best to use them.
The governor frowned on the indiscriminate allocation of land to government officials and their cronies, describing it as an abuse of land policy in the state.
