KINGSTON, Jamaica – With approximately 40 per cent of land parcels in Jamaica unregistered, the National Land Agency (NLA), through the Systematic Land Registration (SLR) process, is looking to reduce that number and extend property rights to more citizens.

Developed to assist individuals who have been in open, undisturbed and undisputed possession of their land for 12 years or more, SLR aims to scale up land registration in support of the government’s objective of increasing land tenure regularisation.

Senior Director of the NLA’s Adjudication Services Division (ASD), which has mandate for the SLR, Shalise Porteous, said Jamaica has a relatively low rate of land registration, which is due to several factors.

These, she noted, include high surveyor costs and people not having documented proof of ownership, making it more difficult to get a certificate of title.

Porteous said the issue of individuals living on family-owned land for generations is also a challenge.

“If a family member decides to register his portion of land, by virtue of the Local Improvements Act, once a portion of land forms part of a bigger portion, subdivision approval is required. A condition of approval from the municipal corporation is usually necessary to ensure that certain infrastructure such as water, sewage and electricity are in place,” she explained.

The onus is on the landowner, who might not be able to afford the services, to ensure that these are in place.

Through the SLR, the NLA has been making strides in helping those individuals to meet the cost of securing legal tenure.

Government will advance the entire cost for the legal and surveying fees and individuals will be required to repay after the certificate of title is issued.

SLR is the methodical and orderly registration of parcels of land in a designated area, known as the Systematic Adjudication Area.

For an area to be so designated, the ASD will, first, identify parishes with low rates of land registration and then “identify communities in those parishes where you have a high population density living on unregistered lands,” Porteous explained.

Based on the NLA’s Parcel Statistics Database, two parishes have been identified as having the lowest rate of land registration. These are St Elizabeth and Portland, where registration rates are at 44.5 per cent and 42.4 per cent, respectively.

Porteous notes that the process is expensive, and as such, it is easier carried out in a “whole community with [numerous] unregistered parcels as opposed to a community with just three parcels of unregistered land”.

Land registration began in St Elizabeth in January 2021 as well as in the parishes of Manchester and St Catherine.

The senior director explains that even though St Catherine has a relatively high registration rate, there are existing cadastral maps for parcels of land that were already surveyed under the former Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP).

“It takes some time to survey the parcels and lodge the cadastral map sheets at our Surveys and Mapping Division for certification… so where there are existing cadastral maps, all that would be required is for the legal team to enter and adjudicate rights and interests in land,” she said.

Work is also being done in the parish of Manchester, as some of the parcels of land in St Elizabeth straddle both parishes.

As for Portland, a Cabinet submission for the expansion of the SLR process to that parish and others with low rates of registration is being finalised.

Individuals eligible to apply include those who have acquired land by inheritance, purchase, gift, or possession for 12 years or more.

They are required to have a taxpayer registration number (TRN); certificate of payment of property taxes, if any; valid national photograph identification; documentary proof of ownership such as receipt, indentures, agreements of sale; and two neighbours who can confirm that the applicant has been in open, undisturbed and undisputed possession of the land for 12 years or more.

As at December 31, 2022, the ASD of the NLA has investigated more than 7,000 parcels of land in St Elizabeth, over 300 in Manchester and over 8,000 parcels of land in St Catherine, resulting in the issuance of more than 8,000 Adjudication Certificates.

In addition to assisting people with getting titles for their land, the division acts as a secretariat to the adjudication committees established across the island.

-JIS