Burchell says land reform a key pillar of PNP's development agenda
Published:Monday | July 14, 2025 | 5:02 PM
Nickeisha Burchell, the People's National Party standard bearer for South St James, has declared that land reform and justice will be central to the party’s development agenda when it forms the next government.
Burchell, one of 22 women that the PNP is banking on to win her seat and help wrest power from the Jamaica Labour Party, told supporters at the PNP Women’s Movement Rally at Manning’s School in Westmoreland on Sunday that the time has come for Jamaicans who have lived on land for decades without titles to be given what is rightfully theirs.
“When we say Jamaica Time Come for a Better Life, we’re not just repeating a slogan. We are declaring a mission,” she said to loud applause. “Land is not just dirt. Land is dignity. Land is power. Land is wealth.”
Burchell pointed to several communities in South St James, including Sweet Water, Red Ground and Mafoota, where residents have lived for more than 40 years without receiving legal titles.
“That’s not a better life; that’s injustice,” Burchell charged.
She criticised the current Jamaica Labour Party administration for dismantling land distribution programmes initiated by past PNP governments, such as the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) and Operation PRIDE.
“We were far advanced in the titling process, and then this government came in and shut it down, because they are not in the business of a better life for the people. They are in the business of protecting the powerful,” Burchell said.
Further, she outlined the PNP’s plan to deliver 40,000 land titles annually, revive LAMP, and modernise land mapping with drone technology.
The Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) and the National Land Agency (NLA) were merged in 2018 to create a new land-titling agency and legal machinery.
“We will use Sections 5 and 6 of the Bauxite Act to return land to displaced families. We’re not here for announcements; we’re here to deliver results,” she stated.
Burchell added, “The JLP bulldozes. The PNP builds. The JLP locks us out. The PNP opens doors. Jamaica's time has come, and this time, land justice must come with it.”
- Albert Ferguson
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