20 Titles Handed over to Beneficiaries in Trelawny

The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands has handed over 20 certificates of titles to beneficiaries of land settlements schemes in Trelawny.
The schemes are Claremont, Brampton, Bryan, Garredu, Middlemost, Hague and Bounty Hall. Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke, in his remarks at the handing over ceremony held recently at the Parish Council office, said that while “20 titles might seem modest, the fact is that the Commissioner of Lands has, in her name, scores of other titles for these very land settlements, but the original allottees have died. We do not want any more to die without getting that title in their hands.”
He informed that a Probate Unit has been established within the National Land Agency (NLA) to assist the relatives of the deceased allottees to obtain grants of probate or letters of administration, to facilitate the transfer of the titles in their names. “It is really not a core function of the National Land Agency but we are doing it to facilitate the people and it will be done at a cost well below what any lawyer would charge,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister informed that there were some 54 schemes totaling 3,542 lots across the island, which were awaiting parish council approval, and an additional 75 properties comprising 8,871 lots, were to be surveyed and subdivision approval obtained.
“We are going to do all in our power to obtain these titles and hand them over to the beneficiaries in short order,” he assured.
Minister Clarke added that, “we will be engaging the various local planning authorities in respect of subdivision approval for the over 3,000 lots and this year, we are spending some $5 million to carry out surveying works in some 1,075 parcels in schemes all across the island.”