The Tribune

 By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE land manager at the Department of Lands and Surveys says the backlog of applications for Crown Land is in the thousands and wants government to suspend the application process so people who have never been approved for a Crown Land grant can get a response.

 Mark Darville’s comments came during the weekly press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister. Expected to talk about how the Crown Land grant process should work, he lambasted the system, calling it antiquated and in need of dramatic overhaul.

“I think they should’ve done a cut off (for applications), just cut off for a bit to accommodate people who at least never had Crown Land before because you know we have people who get land repeatedly and you should deal with people who had never had Crown Land before, be it residential or commercial,” he said.

 Mr Darville said the process of applying for Crown Land needs to be digitised, adding the maps people rely on at his department have not been updated to show land that has been granted over the years.

 “I realise with Crown Land our system is pretty old and population-wise, like back from the 50s and 60s it was working pretty smooth back then because the population growth wasn’t what it is now,” he said. “So, we dealing with a system that was in place from the 50s and 60s, still trying to work with that now in 2022. That’s why we(are) having all these issues with people (unlawfully taking) land and trying to take land over.”

 Mr Darville said a land manager should be assigned to every major island and should have at least two assistants.

 “You can’t operate and control land by sitting here in the capital, you see what I’m saying? People are going to come into Lands and Survey and they’re gonna get maps, they’re not up to date. They’re gonna look at some maps from the 50s ad 60s and they’re gonna see vacant Crown Land on it, but these lands have already been issued to grantees and there is a sense of innocence in it from them being ignorant to the fact of what’s happening today so our whole system needs to be revamped.

 “Technologically, it needs to be revamped. We can’t be working with a system from the 60s and 50s to handle situations of 2022. I can’t even give you any sensible answer to what questions you gon’ bring to me because we working with a prehistoric system which needs to be revamped.”

 “First of all, with applicants, we’re still dealing with paper applications. We need to have digital stuff online where people can just fill in online and they could have like an automated response that give them an acknowledgement letter and they will be able to have some kind of tale of the tape with what’s happening with the applications process.

 “But when you bring in paper and you only have like four people in the registry and you have a bulk load of these applications coming in, everyone wants to be satisfied or accommodated according to land. We don’t have the amount of people to deal with that. It needs to be digitised and we need more manpower on the out islands to watch land and even if they have to work with the administrators over there that would help a lot. Someone needs to be stationed on every island to deal with situations. They just can’t run into Lands and Survey, they just can’t catch a plane, come on a boat and say they come to deal with the situation, that ain gonna work.”

 Press Secretary Clint Watson said the Davis administration is committed to reforming the Crown Land system.

 Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis pledged to give Bahamians greater access to Crown Land and highlighted efforts to regularise Crown Land leases and grants. However, critics have continued to complain about how Crown Land is used.

 Some, including Works & Utilities Minister Alfred Sears, have called for greater transparency and accountability in the distribution and management of Crown Land. In 2018, Mr Sears called for an amendment to the Conveyancing and Property Act to remove the prime minister’s exclusive power as the minister responsible for Crown Land.

 “This is no accountability for how this Crown Land is used and is disposed of by the cabinet or the parliament,” he said. “On an annual basis the proposed management committee will report to Bahamian people … how Crown Land is used; who receives a lease or a grant of Crown Land, and there can be accountability and transparency in the use of this important natural resource in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”