The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Land development in the Bahamas is being impeded by an attorney-imposed “stranglehold”, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman yesterday adding his voice to those calling for a formal property title system.

Addressing the Exuma Business Outlook Conference, Chester Cooper said “it simply takes too bloody long” to convey real estate in the Bahamas, something that acted as an impediment to property development and economic growth.

Pointing out just how vital an economic asset land was, Mr Cooper said his ability to “leverage” the value of Exuma real estate he owned during the mid-2000s ‘boom period’ was vital to his ability to acquire majority ownership in the now-BAF Financial.

He also urged Bahamian families to ‘unlock’ the value of commonage and generation land in the Family Islands, pointing to the Ocean Hole subdivision in south Eleuthera - where land values had increased more than five-fold in seven years - as a development model.

And the BCCEC chairman called for the Bahamas to ‘zone’ specific islands according to their economic or environmental profiles, in a bid to guide appropriate development.

Noting that the costs associated with Family Island infrastructure build-out were both a challenge and opportunity, Mr Cooper said the high cost of land in New Providence - driven by its increasingly scarce nature - was pushing real estate buyers to look elsewhere.

Describing generation and commonage land as “one of the foremost hurdles to monetising land in the Bahamas”, Mr Cooper said: “Families are hurting themselves and the development of their islands by not working together to resolve land issues through the proper use of the Quieting of Titles Act in the case of generation land, or through the creation of proper and functioning corporations and associations in the case of commonage.”

Suggesting that the Government could incentivise this through the use of devices such as Stamp Tax exemptions, Mr Cooper said Rock Sound commonage land was first assigned and acquired by the Government in the 1940s.

It was then sold off, first to Rock Sound residents building first homes, then Bahamians for the cost of the improvements.

These properties, Mr Cooper said, were sold in 2005 for $6,500, increasing in value by $25,000 to hit $40,000 by this year. Of the 84 lots, some 20 have houses built on them.

Another key to land development was the Government, as the largest landowner, with its thousands of acres of Crown Land.

Mr Cooper, though, said the process for companies and individuals to acquire Crown Land was “lengthy, archaic, cumbersome and fraught with political..... practices”.

Calling for reform at the Department of Lands and Surveys, Mr Cooper said the Government needed to develop a system for conveying Crown Land “at concessionary rates where there is a credible business plan or where there is a plan designed for the creation of subdivisions in a specific short period of time”.

He added that covenants attached to the sale of Crown Land should require that a specific level of investment by made by the purchaser within a set time period, such as five years.

“Finally on this subject, it simply takes too bloody long to convey property in the Bahamas from one person to another,” Mr Cooper said.

“Lawyers, by and large, are keeping a stranglehold on this sector by not implementing acceptable service standards or causing reform in the land registry that sets time limits and permits the transfer of land without the need for a lawyer, as is the case in many civilised countries......

“Whilst I might lose a few lawyers friends, what is indisputable is that formalising property titles helps promote the transfer of land, encourages investment and gives entrepreneurs access to formal credit markets.”

A formal property title system, such as a Land Registry, was vital to wealth creation and Family Island development, Mr Cooper said, plus improving the Bahamas’ 179th out of 185 ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report.

The BCCEC chairman also called for islands to be zoned as a means to reduce development costs, and create more sustainable economic growth.

He suggested Inagua could be designated as the eco-tourism destination, with only low density construction allowed; Grand Bahama as the industrial and logistics/transhipment hub; Andros as the agribusiness centre; and Exuma as the boutique resort and university destination.