58 Land Titles Handed Over to Homeowners in Blenheim, Manchester

Fifty-eight certificates of title have been handed over to homeowners in the subdivision of Blenheim in Manchester. 

The titles, which were facilitated under aluminium company Jamalco’s Resettlement Initiative, were presented to the recipients during a ceremony on Wednesday (July 19) at the Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon. 

Other residents of the subdivision are also slated to receive titles for the properties they occupy. 

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, who brought greetings, said the process of handing over outstanding titles will continue to be expedited using the vesting order approach. 

This is an order of the court that is open to certain persons to make applications for property to be vested in them where a liquidator or trustee has disclaimed their interest in that holding. 

“I want to commit to the partners that, as Minister, I stand ready to utilise the provisions of the Act to ensure that those vesting orders are signed and that we can move to get titles to people more quickly,” he said. 

“Additionally, I want to explore with the National Land Agency (NLA) if there are areas where we can use the systematic titling approach to move [this along] more quickly,” Minister Green further stated. 

Meanwhile, Jamalco’s Managing Director, Austin Mooney, who spoke during the ceremony, thanked the title recipients for their patience and understanding while the documents were being prepared. 

He explained that the process to finalise land sales and deliver titles is an extensive undertaking. 

However, Mr. Mooney assured the persons awaiting titles that Jamalco’s Land Acquisition Division, Capital Expenditure Division, Legal Department, Lands Legacy Division, and Land Subdivision Department, among other stakeholders, are working feverishly to ensure that the documents are delivered. 

He said one of the main challenges relates to the sub-divisional approval procedure, which is a pre-requisite of the title application process. 

“Jamalco takes its corporate responsibility very seriously. We recognise this obligation to the communities that we work in and the vendors. I want to assure you that we remain wholly committed to delivering on the outstanding titles,” he stated.  

Meanwhile, Jamalco’s Lands Closure Administrator, Tamara Grant-Bogle, informed that since 2015, the company has facilitated the preparation of 956 titles. Approximately 414 titles were transferred to vendors and their beneficiaries. 

Additionally, 287 titles have been obtained in the name of Jamalco’s partners, 237 were transferred to the Commissioner of Lands, while 18 titles went to the Municipal Corporations. 

“We have already closed out all titling obligations to our vendors in five of our named subdivisions, and we continue to work on closing all titling obligations in our other subdivisions,” Ms. Grant-Bogle said.