By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder said his office is looking to quickly pass legislation that will remedy the consequences of a new Privy Council ruling so the matter does not become a “vexing problem” for Bahamians.

Since January 2011 it has been unlawful to convey land without subdivision approval, but the Privy Council ruled this week that conveyances without subdivision approval are null and void as well.

The ruling followed a dispute between an American citizen and a developer in Exuma and it hinged on the interpretation of Section 62(1) and (2) of the Planning and Subdivision Act which replaced the Private Roads and Subdivision Act in 2010.

“We wouldn’t know in the first instance how many properties have been conveyed since 2011 which is when the court said the operative date was without subdivision approval although we have to assume that certainly there is a material amount of conveyances that may fall into that bucket which according to the court ruling would make them void,” Mr Pinder said.

“We are looking at the court ruling and looking with respect to possible legislative amendments in the very short term to be able to address this situation. Certainly, this is not something that we would want to leave open ended for the Bahamian people. There are many conveyances that have occurred over a decade now that are legitimate, that are material, that are bargained for that need to be preserved, so we’re looking at our legislative options to see if we can have a legislative remediation of this issue so it doesn’t become a vexing issue for Bahamians.”

Mr Pinder said the law reform commission is spearheading the drafting of legislation.

“We’re weighing whether we proceed with one amendment or we proceed with a full planning and subdivision replacement legislation to make it more transparent and easier and facilitate developments and preserve Bahamians’ rights, but if that is not viable in the short term, we’ll certainly bring an amendment if we think it’s appropriate to fix the situation. There’ll be no criminal prosecutions as a result of this ruling,” he said.

On Monday, Christina Galanos, lawyer for the respondent in the case, foreshadowed legislation because of the ramifications of the ruling.

“From what I understand there are some subdivisions that were not granted subdivision approval and many, many persons bought properties in those subdivisions from 2011 and on without subdivision approval. All of those conveyances are null and void. It also affects banking transactions because every bank that is holding land as collateral or those conveyances as collateral, all of that is null and void,” she said.