Many villagers in Laos now feel afraid of losing their land for development projects despite holding land titles” according to land experts who asked not to be named.

Their concerns have arisen after development projects in past years have ended up encroaching on villagers' land” forests and watershed areas. Unfortunately the compensation for affected families has not always been sufficient to improve their livelihoods” he said recently.

The lack of land surveys and allocation or clear urban planning could mean that the land issue will continue to be the top concern of villagers due to the inflow of foreign investment to operate mega projects in Laos.

Land experts called for the government to review land compensation provided to villagers to ensure that they will enjoy better lives afterwards.

The government is currently drafting a national land policy to serve as a guideline for land use in the future and address land disputes in the country.

If completed” the enactment of a national land policy will pave the way for Laos to amend the land laws and other legislation relating to land use” in order to reflect the reality of the situation in the country as it stands currently.

The draft policy defined directives” mechanisms and measures regarding land management” allocation” the classification of land use for different purposes and land compensation.

The draft policy also touched upon the evaluation of land prices and land markets” converting land into capital” land taxes” land titles” land management in special economic zones and poverty reduction related to land use.

“Without a comprehensive land policy” all current land disputes will never be resolved”” experts said” saying that the land policy and law must be harmonised with other sectors including urban planning” agriculture” forestry and mining.

President of the Economics” Planning and Finance Committee of the National Assembly Dr Souvanpheng Bouphanouvong said at a land meeting last month that land is directly related to the livelihoods of the multi-ethnic Lao people.

She thought that a national land policy is urgently needed in order to address land disputes and contribute to alleviating poverty.

The Champassak Provincial Department of Justice accepted that disputes related to land use submitted to the People's Court were difficult to solve despite the court reaching verdicts on the matter” noting that the injured party did not usually accept the court's verdict.

Land disputes were the top issue of concern raised by members of the public who called the National Assembly hotline during the NA session in June this year.

Laos has about 1.6 million land plots and so far about 620″000 plots have been titled” of which 300″000 are owned by the State” while the rest is villagers' land.

The government plans to complete a land survey and allocation as well as a land title project by 2015.