By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE creation of a land registry is key to spurring Bahamian economic growth, an attorney yesterday noting it would not be an overnight fix.

Andrew O’Brien, the Glinton, Sweeting & O’Brien law firm partner, speaking with Tribune Business on the sidelines of the Bahamas Association of Land Surveyors conference, said the full implementation of a Bahamian land registry could take several years.

“It’s something that I think is inevitable just because it makes so much sense,” said Mr O’Brien. “It will facilitate commerce, lower the cost of real estate transactions and make the system much more predictable and organised. It will also help the Government raise taxes as well. We seem to be inefficient but we’re improving, and a land registry system is one of the steps that will help.”

Petrocelli Edwards, an attorney in the Office of the Attorney Genera,l who was a panellist at yesterday’s conference, acknowledged that a land registry could take many years to be fully implemented.

“Whatever the Bahamas government does they have to decide whether the system will be voluntary or compulsory,” said Mr Edwards.