KINGSTON, Jamaica – Approximately 300 land titles will be handed over to residents of Clifton, St Catherine in 2024 to regularise ownership of land they have occupied for several years.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the announcement while handing over the latest unit under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) to proud homeowner Shaneil Francis in the community on Tuesday.

“I have taken a personal interest in your community…We now have about 200 titles ready, and I wanted to do the titling and the handing over at the same time, but as it turned out, both could not have been [because] of scheduling issues. I am going to…do it sometime in February and by then we should have about 300 titles ready,” he said.

Francis, who received a three-bedroom house, was one of the victims of a land scam in the Greater Bernard Lodge development area and her unfinished structure was taken down in October 2022.

The Prime Minister had committed to assisting Francis in receiving a legal structure.

During Tuesday’s handover ceremony, the Prime Minister pledged that “similar treatment” will be extended to other persons who were impacted by the land scam as soon as they regularise themselves.

He noted that persons are already in discussion with Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) Holdings Limited, which owns the property, to arrive at a solution.

Prime Minister Holness said the Government remains committed to the formal development of communities and is creating avenues for persons to legally own property.

“Illegally occupying a piece of land does not create an asset for you. You can’t take it to the bank; you probably won’t get sewerage and road and water…If you go and settle illegally, the government will not be able to follow behind you with the services,” he pointed out.

He emphasised that the stance of the Government is to build proper communities with the necessary features and amenities “to make the community livable”.

A total of 182 housing units have been built and delivered, to date, under the NSHP.

-JIS