Digital Titling to Boost Jamaica’s Land Titles Output to 25,000 Annually

Minister with Responsibility for Land Titling and Settlements in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development, Hon. Robert Montague, says the National Land Agency (NLA) will be able to more than triple its production of land titles annually once the Electronic Land Titling Project is implemented.

“The e-titles will allow us to produce upwards of 25,000 titles per year up from what we are doing now. The maximum we can do now is about 8,000 titles per year, and the e-titles will go a far way in assisting us,” Minister Montague said.

The Minister was speaking recently at the contract-signing ceremony for semi-permanent housing solutions for Hurricane Melissa survivors in Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth.

He noted that the transition to electronic titles under the initiative involves the ongoing digitisation of paper-based records at the NLA, many of which are deteriorating due to age.

Minister Montague highlighted that the process is further supported by a US$9-million fund from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which will assist in bolstering Jamaica’s land management infrastructure.

“We have a partnership with the Government and people of South Korea… to establish a training school which will be training our surveyors, our map readers, our technicians, all aspects of land titling. We will be training more professionals so that we have a larger pool to pull from,” Minister Montague stated.

He further noted that digital titling, alongside the progressive buildout of Jamaica’s comprehensive cadastral mapping system, will streamline property transfers, sales, and property tax processing across the island.