KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – The National Land Agency (NLA) has prepared 873 of 1,005 certificates of title  for properties in St Ann, St Mary, and Portland, under the Government’s $235 million (US$2 million) land registration project being implemented in those parishes.

The remaining 132 titles are currently being processed by the NLA, and should be ready in short order.

Preparation of the titles is being carried out under phase two of the Government’s Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP), with grant funding from the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA).

The exercise follows the completion of surveys conducted on some 1,000 parcels of land in the three parishes, which was undertaken by Korean surveyors over a nine-month period, between 2013 and 2014.

Of the 873 titles produced, 223 have been delivered to the recipients, including four which were presented by Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Minister Robert Pickersgill, during a brief ceremony at the NLA’s St Mary parish office, in Port Maria, on Thursday.

This forms part of an overall programme of assistance from the Government of the Republic of Korea, which also include the provision of equipment and motor vehicles to the LAMP Project Management Unit and NLA, valued approximately $117 million (US$1 million), as well as advanced training for local surveyors in Jamaica and Korea.br>

Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Pickersgill, who has portfolio responsibility for  the NLA, expressed gratitude for the assistance provided by KOICA.

“I want to assure the Korean Government that our country has benefitted tremendously from this project. It has helped us to address issues of security of tenure, land development, and poverty alleviation, the impact of which will last for generations,” Pickersgill said.