Montague promises titles for land owners

Many Jamaicans who occupy lands for which they have no titles will sooner or later have these very important documents in their possession. That is, if new agriculture and fisheries minister, Robert Montague, is successful in a new thrust to have them documented under Project LAND (the Land Access for National Development) programme.

In speaking with The Gleaner while on a tour of the St Ann Pavilion at the Denbigh Showgrounds in Clarendon on Sunday, Montague said: "I am going to be launching in September a very exciting programme on land titling. Historically, for the last 350 years there are a lot of persons who have access to land, but no document."

Legislation to be combined

To accommodate this wholesale titling of lands, two pieces of legislation, The Facilities For Titles Act and the Special Provisions Act (2005) will be linked. Successful applicants will then be issued with certificates of compliance which are routes to the titles. As for the cost of processing, stamp duties and registration fees will be waived.

The objective then is to have each untitled parcel of land in Jamaica get a title.

"We have too many rich poor people in Jamaica. Rich because they have access to land, poor because they can't utilise that land," the St Mary member of Parliament said. As such, farmers without titles, for example, cannot access bank loans using their lands as collateral.

When asked about legal and other loopholes and hurdles that might affect this ambitious plan, Montague declared: "There is going to be opposition from traditional sources, but the opposition has not met Bobby Montague. I am determined to do what I have to do ... . We are talking about transformational governance, and to transform the circumstances of people we have to give them that land title so that people now have a stake in what is Jamaica."

- Paul Williams