A prominent member of the governing Unity Party (UP), Richlue Burphy, has publicly responded to Public Works Minister Roland Giddings’ recent call for lawmakers to pass the draft Zoning Act into law.
Giddings, who has been under scrutiny for his handling of various public works projects, was also labeled by Mr. Burphy as “corrupt and incompetent” over his continuous missteps since President Joseph Boakai appointed him Minister.
Recently, Minister Giddings issued a press release calling on the National Legislature to pass the Draft Zoning Act into law. He said it is essential for sustainable development as it seeks to regulate land use, prevent illegal construction, and promote orderly urban growth.
Minister Giddings emphasized the urgency of passing the Zoning Act, stating that it is crucial for the country’s development and for attracting foreign investment, urging the lawmakers to prioritize the bill because it would provide a legal framework to address the rampant land disputes and unregulated construction that have plagued urban areas in Liberia.
But in response, Burphy criticized the Minister’s action: “It is not the function of the Public Works Minister as per our laws, and this shows another display of Minister Giddings’s ignorance and incompetence.”
According to Burphy, in 2016, the government passed a law that created the Liberia Land Authority as a one-stop shop for all matters in the country. It said, “In the preamble of that law, paragraph 6 has it enshrined that realizing that it is important to create an autonomous agency with a comprehensive mandate on LAND MATTERS and broad authority to FORMULATE and IMPLEMENT LAWS, policies, regulations, and programs relating to land.”
“In the same Land Authority Act, under section 8.1(b), which speaks to the functions and powers of the Land Authority, the law says the authority shall have the power to ‘promote, support, and ensure the development of LAND USE PLANS and ZONING SCHEMES and their implementation through municipalities, towns, and other local government structures.
But more importantly, 52.4 of the Land Authority Act says, ‘upon coming into operation of this Act, all the land administration functions currently assigned to Ministries of Internal Affairs, PUBLIC WORKS, or any other government entity shall be taken over by the Authority,” he narrated.
Burphy explained, “What 52.4 is saying is that even if there is a law passed in 1972 creating the Ministry of Public Works and giving them land administration functions, including zoning, this new supersedes that, and the function is taken away from Public Works.”
The tough-talking member of the Rescue National Campaign team wondered, “So, how come Mr Giddings is not reading, and he is acting on old laws, as old as 1972? You don’t know to think that speaks to his incompetence?”
“And how come the entire Board of Commissioners as the Land Authority is watching and allowing Roland Giddings to push their case to the Legislature? They don’t think they are knowledgeable and competent enough. Or are they unaware that Giddings has been working with the World Bank and misusing their money, too?
Mr. President, I’ll remind you again that the second R in your ARREST agenda is for the rule of law. We can’t have your government officials grossly violating the regulations in this country, and you are doing nothing about it,” he intoned.
Burphy asserted, “Roland Giddings should be out there solving our road problems, but he is not doing it. He is rather using bad roads as an excuse for not going to do government work. But he is more comfortable flying in planes worldwide using government resources.”
“Mr. President, there is a whole Zoning Department at the Liberia Land Authority that Roland Giddings thinks is incompetent and unable to lead this charge. That’s why he’s leaving his function and jumping into it,” he added.
By: Bill W. Cooper/ Contributor
