WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — The Government will be tackling housing and land settlement issues plaguing Westmoreland, says Prime Minister Andrew Holness. He was addressing the ceremony to break ground for the new Little London Police Station in the parish, recently.

“The history of Westmoreland as a sugar parish is such that, unfortunately, the issue of land settlement was not settled. It is a part of the legacy of enslavement, and it is our generation, especially in our 60th year of Independence, who should really and truly address the issue of land settlement,” the Prime Minister said.

“The solution to the issue of land settlement is not going to be the violation of property rights. Property rights protect all of us, because even if you were to acquire your property through adverse means, you are going to also want the protection of the courts from others who would want to acquire your land by adverse means. So, I have to be very clear, this Government will never allow property rights to be compromised,” Holness emphasised.

He said this does not mean the Government is not understanding and sympathetic to the plight of “the ordinary Jamaican who just wants a piece of land for himself”.

“[Those] who never had anybody to will any land to [them], whose forefathers were brought here, enslaved on plantations and then at the end of slavery told to go about your business, and you have to just figure your way out, no inheritance to hand down over generations – that is not something that Government must ignore,” he added.

Holness stated, however, that disorderly land settlement must not be countenanced, and that there must be a proper, regulated, well-thought-out process of settlement.

The Prime Minister said he has asked the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), the National Land Agency (NLA), “and any other agencies that have land in the area to give me a full profile, a portfolio of the lands that are here, and we are going to develop them for housing”.

Holness said the Government will put in place a process to have houses built in the parish and make them available through the National Housing Trust (NHT).

Construction of the Little London police station, which is being built at a cost of $175 million through funding from the NHT, is slated to begin this financial year.