needs to know where the boundaries are; there needs to be no confusion. If that’s done, we’ll be freed of this. If not, there will always be problems.258 A community leader in Toa-Zéo, just outside Duékoué, similarly said: “The government has to act in establishing the boundary lines between villages. If people know where the boundaries are … if there is no ability to pretend land is yours when it is actually the neighboring village’s [land] … many of these problems will be resolved.”259 Even several local government officials expressed frustration with the lack of progress in demarcating village boundaries. One sub-prefect told Human Rights Watch: Above all, the way to stop these problems is to establish the different village boundaries. We know who a specific campement belongs to, but not its precise boundaries. We know who a specific village belongs to, but not its exact limits…. [The government is] always at the stage of proposal, proposal, proposal. This needs to be done … to avoid conflicts between people in two villages. This alone will solve many problems.260 In addition to concerns about the lack of progress in demarcating village boundaries, landowners in western Côte d’Ivoire, customary authorities, and humanitarian officials all expressed concern about the costs associated with establishing an individual’s property lines and registering land ownership. Many landowners said the costs were a barrier to formalizing their customary rights.261 These costs include, among other things, repeated transport to the nearest town where the sub-prefecture and local agriculture ministry office are located; the fees to obtain a land certificate and to complete the registration with the cadastre; and the fees for the agriculture ministry to lay down property markers. In February 2013, Agriculture Minister Mamadou Coulibaly told Human Rights Watch that he had a draft decree ready related to the demarcation of village boundaries and was waiting on the finance ministry to issue the necessary funds. He hoped that, with the timely disbursement of funds, they would be able to demarcate the boundaries of 6,000 258 Human Rights Watch interview with village elder, Médibly, February 12, 2013. 259 Human Rights Watch interview with community leader involved in resolving land conflicts, Toa-Zéo, February 6, 2013. 260 Human Rights Watch interview with sub-prefect, western Côte d’Ivoire, date withheld. 261 Human Rights Watch interviews, western Côte d’Ivoire, February and June 2013. See also ONUCI, Rule of Law Division, Le Domaine Foncier Rural et la Loi nº 98-750 du 23 décembre 1998, pp. 32-34; and IDMC and NRC, “Whose land is this?” October 2009, p. 21. 85 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | OCTOBER 2013