By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A CONSULTATION has been held by the Attorney General’s Office on the issue of land reform.

The inaugural consultation on the Land Adjudication Bill and Land Registration Bill was held last week, and Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the Davis administration is advancing the land reforms and the new land registry set to be established next year.

“The government is moving ahead with land reform, and in particular, establishing registered land in The Bahamas, which is intended to facilitate and be more much more transparent in the administration of land and the transfer of land and ensuring that there’s security in the root of title of land,” said Mr Pinder.

The first consultation with the Bahamas Bar Association was described as “positive” by Mr Pinder, who said it focused on the operational and technical aspects of the land registration system.

“It was rather technical, and a lot of the questions had to do with procedure and how it’s going to work on a going forward basis,” he said.

The feedback will be instrumental in refining the draft bills, which will be reviewed and adjusted before being tabled in Parliament later this year.

Other consultations with real estate agents, banks and the public are planned.

“We intend on doing additional consultations in different sectors, said Mr Pinder. “We will do with the real estate agents and the banks. We will also envision a public consultation. We’re still talking about which forum and format that will undertake, but I encourage the public to keep an ear out for that consultation.”

He said members of the Bar Association inquired mainly about the how the new land registration system would be implemented and run along with the currently in place.

“It was rather technical, and a lot of the questions had to do with procedure and how it’s going to work on a going forward basis, and how is the practice of land law going to be while we’re implementing the land registration system and maintaining the current system of land transactions, and how do you run them in parallel,” said Mr Pinder.

He emphasised the importance of continued engagement, stating, “We encourage them to ask more questions, and we encourage everybody to write in to give us their points of view.”

He also acknowledged the historical challenges with land registration, remarking, “This is an issue that’s been around for more than 50 years… I think it’s about time that we work to modernise the system.”

He added: “We would like to launch the registry starting in 2025 and so there’s still a lot of work to be done. I think the engagement is very encouraging.

“It’s a vexing issue that it frankly, has been around since 1967 when the first drafts of land registration bills were prepared in The Bahamas and never gone forward with.”

Before the Senate adjourned for summer break, Mr Pinder introduced the “long-anticipated” land reforms and said the compendium of bills will also include a Land of Property bill and a Planning and Subdivision bill which should increase the efficiency of land transactions and reduce the associated costs.

The land adjudication panel comprised of private sector experts will resolve title issues and once a property is placed on the registry it will have a “guaranteed good title”.

Mr Pinder said while it will be easy to determine the title on new developments and properties in New Providence and Freeport, the Family Islands will be more challenging.

“Now some title is going to be easy, especially new developments,” said Mr Pinder. “New developments will be easy in the last 12 years, since the planning and subdivision bill. Established communities will be easy. Nassau generally for the most part, except for certain parts will be able to be done. Freeport should be able to be done like that.

“The Family Islands will have a little bit more challenges. We understand the title issues and the property issues in the Family Islands. But we will solve this problem and frankly, the adjudication panels will be running concurrently with the current system for a couple of years at least to be able to meet to build and develop the registry.”