ST ANN, Jamaica -Vice President and Country Manager of Discovery Bauxite Partners in St Ann, Delroy Dell, has said the company has been playing a leading role in securing land titles for vendors who have sold lands to the company for bauxite mining purposes.

Dell was speaking at the presentation of the first title delivery for 2023 to land vendor Dorothy Ross at Discovery Bauxite’s offices in Discovery Bay on Tuesday.

In congratulating Ross, the country manager said he was encouraging all title recipients to protect their titles and to use them as tools for financial leverage as well as legacy values.

Noting that some 600 titles have been transferred by the company to vendors over the past few years, the country manager said the land titling process in the industry has been accelerated through the formation of the Bauxite Lands Titling Committee, chaired by the minister of transport and mining and including the National Land Agency and the Commissioner of Lands.

Dell said this was a welcome development where “corrective action is being taken by the government and the industry to avoid vendors having to wait for an undue length of time for their titles”.

He said over the last 10 years “Discovery Bauxite has made a determined effort to clear up the existing backlog explaining that issues of resettlement lands in possession of second and third generation beneficiaries or even tenants, in many cases without a will or any form of estate administration have hampered the title transfer process”.

Dell said the company will continue to work with the ministry in a vigorous drive to accelerate the process with 80 titles prepared in 2022, 35 of which have already been presented with 45 more to be delivered.

He said the success record of this venture is testament to this company’s commitment to the rural communities of St Ann and it has been helping stakeholders to meet their goals for housing and land.