Garissa residents whose land falls inside the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport. (Photo-Victor Wanaswa)}Garissa residents whose land falls inside the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSET) corridor have been advised to register their land for ease of compensation. Addressing participants during a dialogue and exchange programme at a Garissa hotel, area National lands commission acting coordinator Abdikarim Issack said it will be difficult for any person to be compensated if the land they have settled in is not registered.  Abdikarim said although land in Garissa county has not adjudicated and is classified a community land (trust land) communities can organize themselves into groups and register under a Community Based Organization (CBO). “Unlike in other parts of the country where land is owned by individuals, in North Eastern, the land is communally owned and never been adjudicated and therefore no title deeds have been issued since independence,” Abdikarim said.  “If you don’t register your land, then how will LAPSET pay you? There will be nothing to show or indicate that this house or land within the corridor that you have been evicted from is yours,” he added. The acting coordinator said the residents of Garissa County can register their community land at constituency level ahead of the rolling out of the ambitious project that will pass through Garissa Township, Ijara, Fafi and Balambala constituencies from Lamu to Isiolo. “You need to get a letter of allotment through your CBOs. This is the surest way of being compensated when the process kicks off officially,” Abdikarim said. The LAPSET which is under vision 2030 flagship project has already kicked off in parts of Isiolo and Lamu counties. In Garissa, LAPSET consultant companies have already done bush clearing and demarcation of the corridor. Speaking at the forum, Albashir Mohamed, a Garissa civil society leader asked those charged with the responsibility of implementing vision 2030 to take into consideration human rights issues. Mohamed said land compensation should be an all-inclusive process to ensure that no one is left behind. The residents have time and again raised concern over the lack of civic education as far as the LAPSET is concerned."The project will impact on the environment and wildlife echo-system, the human settlement among others. That is why consultation on how to handle these

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