Prime Minister Andrew Holness says formalizing land ownership for all Jamaicans is a high priority.

In this regard, the government will allocate an additional one billion dollars to the Systematic Land Registration Programme, to increase the distribution of land titles to citizens who occupy unregistered lands.

The Prime Minister said: “Out of the central government budget, we will allocate another one billion dollars towards land titling to make sure this process continues. Land titling is absolutely important for the development of the country. The ambition of this government is to have every Jamaican who owns or occupies a piece of land now, to go through the formal process to determine whether they can be legally ascribed a title of ownership; that is what we are committing to do.”

Prime Minister Holness made the announcement on Tuesday (November 21, 2023) at the National Land Agency’s (NLA) fourth Titling Ceremony in Bog Walk, St. Catherine.

It is estimated that there are approximately 300,000 unregistered lands in Jamaica. As such, the NLA is developing the technical and administrative expertise to manage the extensive programme.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister called on citizens to continue to empower legislators who have a track record of implementing policies and procedures for the betterment of the country.

“Your government is not just talking about these issues. I’m sure you would have heard many speeches before on a populist platform [saying] We’re going to give everyone land. We’re going to give everyone a title, and it didn’t happen. We are a government that gets things done. I want you, today, to empower the doers. Empower the people who get things done. I’m confident that I’m not coming here to make a promise to you. What I’m doing here today is giving you a report on how things are getting done,” said Prime Minister Holness.

Since the launch of the Systematic Land Registration Programme in 2021, the NLA has distributed over 8,700 of the targeted 12,000 land titles to be delivered in the first phase which is to end by 2025.