165 000 hectares of lands have been illegally seized

"Our lands should be used carefully as our country does not have great deal of lands. There is an urgent need to pass a bill on state-owned lands to address the current problems in this sphere," said Garib Mammadov, head of the State Land and Cartography Committee (SLCC) at a parliamentary meeting on improving land legislation.

According to APA, Mr.Mammadov said that executive and local authorities issue orders on the lands they own in any way they like.

"In fact, these lands should be used on the basis of an auction. However, no executive order on the use of lands has been made by the results of an auction," the SLCC chairman said.

Mammadov also said that anarchy on issuing of executive orders on the lands use causes great problems.

"Many houses without any plan are being built around Baku, especially around Sumgayit highway. The lack of planning of these houses causes serious problems. The government lost $17 million due to the implementation of a project in this territory," SLCC head stressed.

The Committee chairman noted that the cities and districts have no general plan.