By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday described the Quieting Titles Act as "inherently unfair " and in urgent need of reform.
K Peter Turnquest, who was addressing the Bahamas Association of Land Surveyors' seminar, said the current system of land ownership and registration must change as it "retards" the ability of Bahamians to create wealth and realise economic opportunity.
Promising that the Minnis administration is committed to land reform in a "holistic way", Mr Turnquest said: "This includes improvements to the way land is recorded and title rights passed, to land adjudication programmes to settle the vexing issues of generation and Crown Land grants. Additionally we must address this outdated law on quieting of land, which is inherently unfair."
Developers and members of the real estate community have frequently urged the Government to reform the Quieting Titles Act to curb widespread land fraud/theft. The London-based Privy Council, this nation's highest court of appea,l has expressed concerns that the Bahamas' Quieting Titles Act can be used to steal land, saying it was "no accident" that it has heard numerous title disputes from this nation.
"As we modernise our financial management as a country and move to accrual-based accounting, it will become more apparent for us to know the assets owned by the state, a large part of which is public buildings and infrastructure, but also undeveloped Crown Land, the value of which may give us a different view of our county's wealth and resources," said Mr Turnquest.
Comments
Dawes 7 years ago
pretty much every Govt says this and then does nothing. I don't see any reason to think this will be any different. We desperately need a functioning land registry, however the powers that be would lose too much if there was so there is no incentive to change what we have now.
bogart 7 years ago
For the umpteenth time we know this, we also know that we need a land registry, we aslo know we need to have published listing of Crown lands and owners as it is the peoples land not belonging to one politician, we also know thst persons who claims the crown land for vacation retirement home but promptly resell it is fraudelrnt snd should be punished, we also know that handing out land if it is to reward political ctonies is wrong, we also know years ago the Privy counsil said Quietjng is not good,............so what is anyone going to do about it?....?
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Many innocent, ignorant and poor Bahamians have witnessed foreigners and strangers show up with NO TRESPASSING signs and post them on their properties ...... and our courts allow it.
birdiestrachan 7 years ago
How could he say this when Mr: Small Things sits in the house and quiets poor people property every chance he gets and calls it small things,
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years ago
And what say you Birdie about Sir Snake and his wife Sharon who have both used and abused the Quieting Titles Act in the worst possible ways in recent decades?!
bogart 7 years ago
Birdie, from how many govts ago are you speaking about..?.....And you mean to say that this new DPM is still talking about Quieting being wrong..? Come to think of it didnt the Privy Council have to say something aboit some CAT Island land issue which I would have imagined the For,mer DPM in the last govt might have something to say about land in the island he represents. Both the govy and opposition know about the questionable Quieting of lands and yet it continues. Talk cheap money buy land and Quieting get it for free it seems.
bogart 7 years ago
How many people on the Family Islands buy the newspapers on a daily basis to happen to read those Notice of Quieting published in one towards the back page section.
Also who in the public in the respective Family Island who may know sometjing about one of those Citizenship notices in the newspapers ever gets to see the ad about someone from the Mud or even from a P.O Box number.
Does anyone in the govt ever think about these things...? Public Notices being published and few ever get the chance to read it or even understand english,...?
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
The sad truth is that these methods of written notification are codified in law, but they are highly impractical in this digital age ......... and they are tucked away in the newspaper ........ Not even available on the Tribune on-line.
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