Land title transfer 'could take a year'

Legally, land with an ALRO title, or Sor Por Kor as it is known, automatically passes to legitimate heirs, who only need to submit an application at the local land reform office to have the title transferred. 

The documents required include the original title deeds, ID cards of the recipients and death certificate of the deceased parent. 

The heirs also need to bring along the village head to vouch that they are indeed the heirs, that they live in the village and will only use the land for agricultural purposes. 

When they had everything ready, the Sidam children went to the provincial land reform office at 9am to join the queue. Usually these queues are incredibly long and many have to wait for hours before their number is |called. 

After arriving at the office, the children left their package of documents at the registration desk and waited for their turn. More than an hour later, the brothers and sisters were called one by one to speak to the official in charge. 

The official checked the documents and asked them questions to ensure they were indeed qualified to take over the land left by their dead parents. 

By the time the question-and-answer session |finished, it was lunchtime and everybody took a |break. 

After lunch, the Sidam heirs were called again to take the documents to see another official in another building that houses the land survey unit. Officials there made copies of the documents, took some notes and asked the heirs to take these notes and documents to another set of officials in the legal division. This was at about 2.30pm. 

An official in the legal division took the documents, notes and other materials and said their application was now accepted for consideration. 

“How do we know if the land has been transferred to us?” one of them asked. 

“We will inform you when approval has been granted,” the official said. “We will also tell you if the application has been rejected.” 

“How long will that take?” a member of the Sidam clan said. 

“We cannot fix the date. It might be months or even over a year,” the official said. 

“I will call to check,” an heir said. 

“No need, you will know when things are done,” the official said.

So far, none of the six descendants has received any information from the land reform office. They don’t know if their application has been approved and when the farm will be deeded to them. 

Meanwhile, they are tilling the land they are entitled to but which is still in the name of their parents.