KINGSTON, Jamaica – President of the People’s National Party (PNP) Mark Golding, says a future PNP Government will take steps to significantly reduce the time that persons occupying Government lands can lay claim to said land from 60-25 years.

The law currently allows for a time of 60 years to pass, before persons squatting on Crown lands can take steps to regularise their tenure. This contrasts with the 12 years it takes for persons occupying private property to be able to make a claim.

Golding gave the commitment to significantly reduce the time on Wednesday night as he addressed thousands of party supporters who descended on Emancipation Square in Spanish Town for the PNP St Catherine parish meeting, as the party steps up its campaign activities ahead of the upcoming general election.

Pointing to the significance of Emancipation Square where the Emancipation Proclamation was read in 1833, Golding described the venue as a “sacred space of struggle and strength, a place where the call for freedom was declared once, and where tonight, we gather not only to honour that legacy, but to insist that that legacy be fulfilled”.

“When I feel the vibes of Emancipation Square and realise what it means to us in Jamaica, my heart is full because the next PNP government is coming with a series of policies that are going to take our country forward to a better place,” Golding remarked.

He added that, “When I think of all the thousands of Jamaicans who live on land, and have occupied that land for years but don’t have security of tenure, and they can’t use their investment in the property to further themselves with education, or in business or to deal with any emergency, I say time come to reform that 1833 law that says you have to be on land of government for 60 years before you can become an owner.

“And we going to drop it substantially so that the people who have been there for at least 25 years will be entitled to their titles. It’s not one or two, but tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans who will benefit from becoming owners of the rock because of that one piece of emancipatory legislation that we will be bringing forward”.

Continuing, the Opposition Leader said, “For those who don’t make 25 years yet, don’t worry yuhself, the next PNP government will ensure that you can acquire that piece of land and that you can get some good terms that you can manage to become an owner of that piece of land”.

Golding told the crowd that it is the same spirit of Emancipation in which the PNP has promised to build 50,000 affordable houses during its next term in office, with at least 500 houses to be built in each constituency.