Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has emphasised that making affordable houses available to all sectors of society is a vision to which the Government is committed.

“Our commitment of 70,000 housing solutions is underway. We have put together the Bernard Lodge project, 15,000 houses, and we are seeing other private sector initiatives coming up…

WRITTEN BY: AINSWORTH MORRIS – JAMAICA INFORMATION SERVICE

The Government is calling on Jamaican architects to submit creative, original, resilient and low-cost housing designs, through the Low Cost Housing Design Competition, which can be used as a model for the nation’s social housing programme.

The competition was launched virtually on Friday (May 7) by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.
It forms part of the social housing aspect of the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme.

“The genesis of this project was indeed the success of the competition that was launched for the design of our [new] Parliament [building],” the Prime Minister said.
“What we are trying to do is to get the architectural community, the planning community, and the environmental community to take the vast knowledge that exists, both globally and of local circumstance, and infuse it into practice to solve real world problems,” he added.

The Prime Minister said solutions that do not win will help the Government with having knowledge of solutions that are there from research and academia.
“The Government will take that application and put it through our bureaucracy and then have it implemented,” Mr. Holness said.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Audrey Sewell, gave an overview of the competition and its requirement.
“Given the high demand, there is need to optimise our limited financial resources to get the best value at the least cost. It is against this background that at the inception of the programme, the Prime Minister gave the directive for the Low Cost Housing Competition to be launched,” Mrs. Sewell said.

“It is open to all Jamaicans, whether they live here or overseas. Of course, those who are residing overseas will have to prove that they are Jamaicans. We are especially targeting engineers, architects, builders and students from the built environment, but we are not limiting the competition to those categories, so once you feel that you meet the requirements, we are encouraging you to enter,” she added.

Submissions may be done individually or in teams with a maximum of five persons. Competitors are encouraged to conceive new and original design concepts that are low cost and sustainable.
Designs should accommodate persons who are disabled, should demonstrate climate resilience and be adaptable to the various terrains to be found islandwide.

Entries will be accepted in four categories: one, two and three bedroom units and multi-family unit.
The Government will offer a prize of $1 million for the winner, $500,000 for the second place, and $250,000 for the third place in each of the four categories.

WRITTEN BY: ROCHELLE WILLIAMS- JAMAICA INFORMATION SERVICE

Construction of the Boundbrook Industrial Estate in Portland is expected to commence in the second quarter of the 2021/22 financial year.

Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Everald Warmington,  made the disclosure during his contribution to the 2021/22 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 5.

He said that the works will be conducted in two phases over a 24-month period.

Under the project, the Government plans to utilise lands owned by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) and the National Insurance Fund (NIF) in Boundbrook, Portland, to facilitate the relocation of 11 government agencies.

“The construction budget is estimated to cost $1 billion. There will be a return on investment through lease/rentals,” Minister Warmington said.

The Boundbrook project is a joint venture between the FCJ and the NIF and will involve the buildout of 100,000 square metres of factory space to house government and private-sector entities.

“A feasibility study has been completed and has indicated that significant value can be created for the people of Port Antonio and the surrounding areas with this development,” Minister Warmington told the House.

A contract was signed in February 2021 with GW Associates Consultants to commence detailed development drawings in alignment with the conceptual drawings that were previously approved.

Meanwhile, Mr. Warmington told the House that detailed designs for the development of the Naggo Head Technical Park in Portmore, St. Catherine, and the redevelopment of the Hayes Free Zone in Clarendon will be finalised during the fiscal year.

WRITTEN BY: CHRIS PATTERSON – JAMAICA INFORMATION SERVICE

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Everald Warmington, says the Government’s Land Titling Programme has been re-engineered to deliver 20,000 titles in two calendar years.

Making his contribution to the 2021/22 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 5, Mr. Warmington said it is expected that 10,000 titles will be delivered this year.

He informed that this has been facilitated by the enactment of the amendments to The Registration of Titles Cadastral Mapping and Tenure Clarification (Special Provisions) Act in 2020/2021, which enabled the processing of matters under systematic land registration via an adjudication process.

Mr. Warmington said the systematic titling process is targeting privately held lands at a community or scheme level and will operate alongside the existing voluntary system of registration of lands, where persons visit the National Land Agency (NLA) office and request the service to issue a title for their lands.

He informed that during the 2020/21 financial year, 22 areas or districts were declared as systematic adjudication areas (SAAs), mainly in the parish of St. Elizabeth, which has the lowest level of registration of property.

Mr. Warmington pointed out that St. Elizabeth, based on 2016 figures, had a land registration rate of 41.47 per cent.

“When compared to parishes such as St. James at 81.54 per cent and St. Andrew at 86 per cent, one will clearly see that we have a challenge in that parish. The parish is fourth in line behind St. Catherine, St. Andrew and Clarendon in terms of parcels of land,” he said.

The Minister noted that the Government is working through a public-private partnership agreement with Geoland Title Limited to undertake cadastral surveying and titling services. He added that through this partnership and the information generated, a list of 22 areas were determined for action using systematic adjudication.

The SAAs in St. Elizabeth include parts of Lacovia called Bartons Wharf, Cuffies Pen, Dixon Land and Rice Piece. They also include parts of Berlin, Brighton, Haughton, Potsdam, Exton, parts of Friendship called Doctor Rock; parts of Burnt Ground called Lower Burnt Ground and Grass Piece; parts of Burnt Savannah called 500 Lane, and Ghetto Lane.

Mr. Warmington said fieldwork has started in the parish and teams from the NLA have begun adjudicating rights and interests in the 10 SAAs.

He pointed out that the adjudication record for the Flagman SAA is now complete and will be displayed in the first quarter of this fiscal year, adding that existing NLA staff have been redeployed from other divisions to increase the adjudication team from 11 to 20 dedicated members of staff as at April 2021.

Meanwhile, he said the National Land Agency will introduce an electronic system known as the Systematic Adjudication System (SAS) to manage the Systematic Land Registration (SLR) process in the 2021/22 fiscal year.

He informed that the SAS was custom-built to meet specifications set out by the agency’s Adjudication Services Division.

“Having an appreciation for the sheer volume of information to be processed in producing 20,000 Certificates of Title, it was determined that the land adjudication process must be digitised to the greatest degree possible,” the Minister noted.

Mr. Warmington said this would serve to improve efficiency, while simultaneously supporting greater security and reducing the natural margin of error created by manual processing of the applications.

“There will also be a mobile application… to come online before July 2021, which functions without an Internet connection and will, therefore, facilitate collection of data in the field,” he pointed out.