LAMP and NLA to Be Merged

The merger of the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) and the National Land Agency (NLA) to create a new land-titling agency and legal machinery will start officially in April.

The transitional period will last for 12 months and the merger is in keeping with the Government’s Public Sector Rationalisation Plan.

Making his contribution to the 2018/19 Budget Debate in the House on March 20, the Prime Minister said an extensive review of other jurisdictions, in addition to the local body of knowledge and experience in this area, was done in order to develop an effective operational scheme for the newly formed agency.

He noted that the study addressed adjudication systems, land tenure regularisation, land registration, compulsory/systematic land registration, policies and legislative frameworks, land administration and sustainable land management.

“The final Report of the Consultant has now been issued. Among the recommendations approved by Cabinet, is that Jamaica adopt Systematic Land Registration. This is a process of land titling of a designated area, using a participatory approach and an adjudication mechanism,” Mr. Holness said.

He explained that the process is recognised globally as one of the most effective means of methodically registering land and providing landowners with a title.

“This is to be implemented, along with the current voluntary (ad hoc) approach,” Prime Minister Holness said.

Mr. Holness said these broad policies will be implemented within a legislative framework, which will require amendments to the Registration of Titles Act, the Registration of Titles, Cadastral Mapping and Tenure Clarification (Special Provisions) Act and the Limitation of Actions Act, among others.

He said it is projected that 20,000 parcels of land will be registered with titles over a three-year period and will be partly funded by the National Housing Trust (NHT) in the sum of $2 billion.

“Systematic land registration results in a lower cost per parcel, and increased registration can be done in a shorter period, whereas the voluntary system of registration takes a much longer time to complete,” he explained.

Prime Minister Holness said under the current LAMP, the cost of producing a title is $192,000 per parcel, noting that under the proposed systematic programme, the cost of producing a title will be reduced to approximately $134,000 per parcel.

“The funding from the NHT will help to create a system of credit where you can go and borrow the money to get your title and the funding is there,” he said.

In addition, the Prime Minister said as the new agency develops its know-how and efficiency and the process of systematic registration becomes accepted, and more resources are added, the rate of titling will increase.

“It is possible that within a generation we could have 80 per cent of all parcels of land titled in Jamaica,” he noted.