LAMP beneficiaries urged to pay fees

KINGSTON — Beneficiaries under the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) are being urged to make timely payment of fees for services rendered in the processing of property titles.   

Acting Project Director, Lisa Campbell, said that while LAMP has never “depended on money” to carry out its work, the programme faces financial constraints, and needs to recover the costs for services provided.

She noted that there are persons, who have been benefitting, who have not been making efforts to pay any of the attendant fees, “not even a dollar”.

“Business has to be a little different. We have expenses, we have people to pay…so, as best as possible, take the bank vouchers and when you find a little money, come in, make a payment,” Ms. Campbell appealed at a land title presentation ceremony on Wednesday (April 6) in Sligoville, St. Catherine.

She said that while the agency is cognisant of the prevailing economic challenges, people needed to be more responsible in meeting their obligations.

Ms. Campbell also appealed to beneficiaries to strictly adhere to the regulations governing developments, as stipulated by the local planning authorities.

She pointed out that many persons are putting up houses without the required approvals.   “When it is that we want to sell it or do anything with it (like) trying to get a mortgage, these are the questions (regarding planning permission) that are going to be asked,” she pointed out.

Just over 50 residents were presented with certificates of title for their properties at the ceremony held at the Sligoville Baptist Church.

A programme of the Office of the Prime Minister, LAMP was created in 2000 to address the large amount of unregistered lots island-wide. Under the programme, persons are assisted to secure titles for land, which they occupy but have no formal documentation.

Fees charged by LAMP are significantly less than those that obtain on the open market.
 

By DOUGLAS McINTOSH, JIS Reporter