The impacts of land acquisition problems on plan/project implementation

Abstract

The study set out to investigate the problems faced in the process of acquiring land and the effects of these problems on the project implementation plan. The study found out the probLem to include: computation errors especially for unregistered land payment of compensation, inadequate compensation leading t.o complaints and resistance, litigation, and non-availability of compensation funds where the government is the payer. The overall effect of the problems was found out to be delays in projects implementation especially where registered land is concerned. Delay had further effects on project implementation plan in terror of increased contract time (11.5%) and increased contract sum (7.7%) in the case of Thika Dam. The Methodology involved comparative study of two cases: the Kiambere H.E.P. Project (representing unregistered land) and Thika Dam Project (representing registered land). However the case study methodology which relied on records as principal source of data had a certain limitation in that it was difficult to regenerate data which is not found in records. Secondly the data available was only amenable to descriptive statistics and not inferential statistics. The scope of the study was only limited to large scale projects required large tracts of land to be acquired compulsorily by the Government.