ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green says more than 1000 land titles are set to be issued to residents in south St Elizabeth as part of the Pedro Plains Irrigation Scheme.

Green made the announcement while speaking at the official launch of the Pedro Plains Irrigation Expansion Project at the Lionel Densham Aerodrome in St Elizabeth on Friday. The minister said 100 of such titles will be issued to residents during Friday’s ceremony.

The minister noted that this titling initiative is to ensure that the lands through which the water pipes run are registered.

“When you check the land, most of the land that the pipe would run through is untitled, unregistered. People don’t have any documents for the land, and we said, ‘you know what? As a part of this Pedro Plains Irrigation Scheme, we are going to ensure that for every piece of land that the pipeline goes through, the people will get a registered title free of cost,” he said.

The $26 billion Pedro Plains Irrigation Expansion Project will take water from Black River in the parish to irrigate more than 3000 hectares of land across south St Elizabeth.

“We are going to be doing over 1000 titles for our residents, and today we are going to distribute 100 of those titles to people. So people will leave here with their title for their property. This is the first of its kind,” Green said.

The agriculture minister noted that the next phase of the project will see the establishment of a project office to begin installing the pipes to transport water to farmers.

“The Pedro Plains is the most technically robust and environmentally sustainable venture, and it will have the construction of a new intake structure on the Black River, which will be constructed at Lacovia, where we will secure a reliable water source. We will place reservoirs and pumping stations to ensure optimal flow throughout the system. It will have a pressurised trunk main and a pipe network that will deliver water adequately to farm gates. Most importantly, the entire operation will be powered by a 9.7-megawatt solar photovoltaic system; renewable energy will power the Pedro Plain Irrigation System,” Green outlined.

Additionally, he noted that there will be a fit-for-purpose operation and maintenance facility for the National Irrigation Commission, and agro-processing and cold storage facilities to store agricultural produce.

Meanwhile, the minister noted that the intake and the installation of the first reservoir will take two years, with work to commence this year.

— Vanassa McKenzie