PNP, JLP pitch competing land rights plans to woo voters

People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding has indicated to residents of Bedward Gardens in the St Andrew East Rural constituency that they will benefit from his party’s land title reform policy if it forms the government.

Golding, who was touring the constituency with the PNP’s candidate Patrick Peterkin, said, within the PNP’s key plans is providing titles for persons who are living on lands without the document.

“I believe Bedward is such a community, … we want to make sure everybody in here can get them title and everybody can have that piece of paper to show ownership, so nobody can’t push you off the land,” said Golding.

He said, with titles, residents will be able to generate more wealth for themselves because it becomes an instrument that can be used to raise finance to expand homes, for educational purposes, and for business purposes.

Golding said the issue of land title is widespread, noting that “a whole heap” of communities across the island have people who do not have papers.

“After slavery, the colonial people put a law in place, which is still in place today. It says if you live on public land, that’s government land; you can’t get a title until you’ve lived there for 60 years.

“That was a thing that was designed to make sure that poor people, that black people never get nuh land inna Jamaica fi own because, at that time back in the 1830s, when that law was conceptualised ,human beings never usually live to 60, because modern medicine didn’t exist. So that was their strategy at the time,” the opposition leader said.

He said, if the PNP forms government, the Limitations of Actions Act will be reviewed and changed, cutting the time to 25 years.

He said this will allow anyone on the land for 25 years to be automatically entitled to own it.

“We will do our best to support the process of getting titles to those people. And, if you haven’t made 25 years yet but you’re well established and you would like to purchase the land, no problem. We will enter into discussions to sell you that for a very reasonable price and on the terms that you can manage,” Golding said.

In its 2025 manifesto ‘Jamaica Love’, the PNP said it will deliver the most significant transfer of wealth to the people in Jamaican history, putting ownership of government lands in their hands.

Security and opportunity

Meanwhile, in its 2025 manifesto ‘iChoose Jamaica’, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) said it will bring security and opportunity to thousands of families living in long-established informal settlements across Jamaica.

“We will secure land and secure futures by building on the new Systematic Land Registration system to deliver 25,000 titles per year over the next five years. A national campaign will ramp up the use of systematic registration to pursue nationwide land tenure regularisation, beginning with high-density urban areas, using cutting-edge technology,” the JLP said.

The party also said it will be moving to digital titles and digital land surveys at the Titles Office and the Survey Department of the National Land Agency.

It said this is an essential part of achieving its target of 25,000 titles per year. It said, with digitisation, every Jamaican, whether at home or abroad, will also be able to get their title information on a computer or on their phones.

The JLP said it will also finance the title cost through the National Housing Trust (NHT), allowing residents to repay over time. This repayment, it said, will be rolled into a plan that will unlock other NHT benefits such as construction grants and home improvement loans, to build on their property for which they will now have title.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com