MINISTER of Agriculture, Dr Christopher Tufton, says he is dissatisfied with the pace of land titling and wants the process speeded up.

Tufton told the House of Representatives Tuesday that a review of the whole titling process has been initiated to reduce the time it takes for owners to get titles, and to increase the number of persons with secure land tenure.

He was responding to questions raised in Parliament by Opposition Member of Parliament (Central Kingston), Ronald Thwaites.

He recalled that the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP), was started in April 2000 to support government efforts to establish a “dynamic land market” promoting efficient use of resources and allowing accessibility to all segments of society “in a fair and transparent manner”.

He said the programme had four components – land registration, public land management, land information management and land use planning and development.

“The land registration component had, as part of its deliverable, the mapping of 30,000 parcels of land in St Catherine. This was achieved; however, the target of generating certificates of title for 50 per cent of the 30,000 parcels surveyed was not achieved, as only approximately 740 of the titles have so far been issued,” he said.

“The government is, therefore, not satisfied with the pace of titling. As a consequence, we are currently reviewing the entire land-titling process with a view to reducing the length of time it takes to get titles, and increasing the number of persons who actually have security of tenure,” he said.