114,000 acres of land wrested back from grabbers

KABUL, irrigation and livestock said on Tuesday.

The land was retaken from encroachers in Herat, Kunduz, Nangarhar and Kabul provinces, Muhammad Asif Rahimi told Pajhwok Afghan News during a two-day meeting on amendments to the land law.

He said the 13,500 acres of the land was leased out to the private sector for trade and farming during the current year. However, he stopped short of giving the lease rate.

Officials say two million acres of land, including forests and deserts, has been grabbed by strongmen across the country.

Rahimi said he was unsure about the involvement of central government officials in land grab.  However, he refused to rule out the provincial authorities’ complicity in the practice.

The relevant law, toughened four months ago to punish the land grabbers, was presented to experts at the meeting that started today. Expert recommendations would be become known on Wednesday, the minister said.

mas/mud

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