The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

CENTREVILLE MP Reece Chipman yesterday moved a petition to review the Quieting Titles Act of 1959, which currently outlines the process to claim unused land without holding a legal title.

During the request for presentations of petitions yesterday in the House of Assembly, Mr Chipman said he believes the law has given foreigners and permanent residents the freedom to quiet land at the expense of Bahamian citizens.

Presenting the appeal to House Speaker Halson Moultrie, Mr Chipman said: “Whereas Section 3 Part 27 of the constitution specifies the granting and protection of the fundamental rights of human beings from being deprived of property. Whereas the Privy Council cases suggest that this clause should have priority over the savings clause in matters of fundamental rights. Whereas, we believe the act has allowed for foreign persons and or permanent residents to quiet land in the Bahamas to the disenfranchisement of the Bahamian people. And whereas we are unable to locate documents of companies in the Registrar’s Office that would have quieted land or purchased land that was quieted.”

Mr Chipman added the Quieting Titles Act also lacks a restriction on the amount of land that can be quieted and asserted that the “procedures and investigation processes” of the act do not align with “best practices”.

“And whereas we believe the act does not benefit the majority of the Bahamian people in terms of land ownership and wealth.

“And whereas funds received from all lands quieted and or resold should go to the Sovereign Wealth Fund as established by the act of Parliament in 2016. And whereas we believe the land unit and Land and Surveys Department served a single purpose and adequate documentation of quieted land should be a public document,” he furthered.

Mr Chipman said he is calling on Parliament to establish a competent authority to eliminate deficiencies in the country’s land laws.