$90 Million Revolving Loan Fund for Title Acquisition

Government will be providing more financial assistance to land owners to acquire titles, by way of a $90 million revolving loan fund.

The sum is to assist beneficiaries of the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP II), who have made partial payments on their applications for titles, but who are having difficulties completing the payments.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, made the announcement during her keynote address at the official launch of the expansion of the Land Titling Project, LAMP II, held at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville, on Thursday, May 15, where more than 200 persons received titles and Certificates of Compliance.

Mrs. Simpson Miller said this initiative complements the special low cost financing for land surveying and titling costs being provided by the People’s Cooperative (PC) Banks, under project Land Access for National Development (LAND).

She pointed out that the Facilities For Titles Act was amended by Ministerial Order, so that PC banks can grant loans to pay the cost of surveying and registering land. They have been given $11 million to be loaned at one per cent to landowners to finance land survey costs, she said.

The Prime Minister further stated that through the LAMP II programme, the Government is able to both alleviate poverty and at the same time contribute to national wealth creation.

“These land titles are not just the means of personal empowerment and advancement. They represent a mechanism through which this country can grow. These titles provide the means for individuals to achieve their economic goals and so contribute to national output,” she said.

Mrs. Simpson Miller thanked the South Korean Government, through its agency, the Korean Cadastral Survey Corporation, and its local partner, Geoland Title Ltd., for making the LAMP project possible.

She informed that the Corporation has invested US$2.2 million in the project and has an option to invest up to US$26 million over the 10-year period.

“Through this partnership, the Jamaican Government  is able   to extend the services of LAMP to a wider cross-section of the Jamaican public, without having to incur the full cost of the roll-out,” Mrs. Simpson Miller said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, said LAMP II is considered a ‘One Stop Shop’, where Jamaicans can get their land titles at a minimal cost, and which also allows land owners to get their land surveyed and legal matters dealt with in one place.

“Land titling has always been and continues to be a major priority of this administration, We realize that there are many Jamaicans who occupy lands for which they do not have the proper documents, and therefore we are going all out to correct this imbalance and to make sure we provide the means by which they can attain security of tenure for their holdings,” the Minister said.

He noted that in doing so, “we are empowering our people to aspire for greater heights while improving themselves, their communities and to a greater extent, their country.”

LAMP 11 will extend the project beyond the initial three parishes covered—Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Clarendon—to include five additional parishes of St James, Westmoreland, St. Ann, Hanover and  Trelawny.

The time frame of the project has also been extended from two to 10 years, during which its targets include: Updating and amending the valuation/property tax roll for 100,000 parcels; delivery of certificates of compliance for 50,000 parcels; Cadastral  surveys for 112,000 parcels; completion of the cadastral  map for St. Elizabeth, and the registration of 12,500 parcels of land across the project parishes.