The regional direction of town planning and housing in the Center-West raises awareness among the population of Léo Léo, (AIB) - The regional direction of town planning and housing organized on Thursday October 5, 2023 in Léo a session to raise awareness of the population on building acts and the new law 008-2023/ALT promoting real estate in Burkina Faso. This population awareness session on building acts and the new law 008-2023/ALT on real estate promotion in Burkina-Faso took place in Léo in the presence of traditional and customary chiefs from the canton of Léo. During this awareness session, participants were entitled to two communications. The first presented by the head of the control department of the central-west regional planning department, Ali Tassembedo, focused on construction acts. In his presentation, Mr. Tassembedo indicated that there are 4 building documents in Burkina Faso, including the town planning certificate, the building permit, the certificate of conformity and the demoliti on permit. He particularly focused on the building permit. According to the communicator, all construction must be subject to a building permit which is issued by the mayor or the minister of town planning. He also specified that the different categories of permits have a renewable validity of 5 years. He concluded by saying that all violators of these texts are exposed to sanctions ranging from financial penalties to custodial sentences. In turn, the regional director of town planning for the Center-West, Adama Hema, spoke to the participants about the new law 008-2023/ALT on real estate promotion in Burkina-Faso. According to Mr. Hema, the first law on real estate development in Burkina-Faso dates from 2008. 'After ten years of implementation of this law 057 -2008/AN of November 20, 2008, many abuses have been noted,' he explained. This is how real estate developers, instead of promoting real estate, took advantage of the loopholes in the old law to promote land, he added. 'It is in view of these d ifficulties that the ALT Transitional Legislative Assembly unanimously voted for the new law 008-2023/ALT on real estate development in Burkina-Faso which compensates for the excesses of the old law,' a- he noted. According to the communicator, the new law stipulates that real estate development can now only be done in urban developed areas and not on rural land. 'With this law only the State and local authorities are authorized to carry out real estate development,' he clarified. From now on, the profession of real estate developer is conditioned by a quota of 250 million FCFA, said Mr. Hema. According to him, after the adoption of the new law all approvals for real estate developers are void. Also, the mobilization of land is now the responsibility of the State and communities. The president of Léo's special delegation, Kassoum Koalaga, welcomed the initiative of the Central-West regional planning directorate. According to Mr. Koalaga, the new law comes at the right time to reframe the real estate de velopment sector, save the future of the future generation and encourage agricultural promotion. He invited the participants to be relays to their respective grassroots communities so that 'we are all in line with the new law'. Source: Burkina Information Agency