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Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar speaks with the media on the steps of the Tobago House of Assembly during a visit to Tobago on November 4. - Photo by Alva Viarruel PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar has announced a series of measures to fast-track the process through which Tobagonians can get deeds to their properties.
In her address to members of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) at a special sitting on November 4, Persad-Bissessar acknowledged the issue of land titles on the island has been a long-standing one.
“You see that hardship that is being experienced here in Tobago, where people are unable to provide proof of ownership of property, held in their families for decades, has had the attention of successive administrations,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar recalled during her last tenure as prime minister, from 2010-2015, she had presented a lease to an old man.
“I could remember as if it was today. That man cried because it was like pulling teeth in order to deliver deeds for the people of Tobago. So here we are with the people of Tobago unable to provide proof for ownership for property held in their families for decades, has had the attention over and over and over.”
To address the issue, Persad-Bissessar said her government, in conjunction with the THA, is committed to establishing a robust real property applications (RPA) unit at the Registrar General’s department in Tobago.
Steps are also being taken to outfit and staff the service and mapping division in Tobago, she added.
The PM said the THA also will subsidise the legal costs of the application through the provision of legal assistance for the preps for the RPA applications.
Further, she said, existing legislation will be reviewed to streamline and modernise the RPA application process. Consultations also will be held with the Judiciary to review the judge’s guidelines for RPA applications.
“So we are fixing it here together with you in Tobago to get you your land deeds, your land leases so you have something for your children and their children and your grandchildren down the road. That is your wealth, your piece of land.”
Persad-Bissessar thanked Tobagonians for their patience.
“I want to assure you of my commitment to work with the THA to bring the suffering to an end once and for all.”
She said she was told that the “crisis” first came about after Hurricane Flora struck Tobago in September 1963.
“This destroyed land records traditionally kept by Tobagonians in their homes.”
Persad-Bissessar said when her administration was formed after the UNC-led coalition’s victory in the April 28 general election, she immediately implemented measures to streamline the process.
“I put everything related to land in one place and that’s a tremendously good thing.”
She said the Ministry of Land and Legal Affairs, headed by Saddam Hosein, was created.
“It was legal affairs before and all land titles and land deeds were in the Ministry of Legal Affairs but the lands were in agriculture.
“The mapping was somewhere in finance, I think, the surveying was somewhere else. That is why when you want to get your deed, you want to get a lease, it takes forever. So I put all these things under one ministry.”
Persad-Bissessar said land represents one of the most valuable resources in Trinidad and in Tobago.
“You can put that in the bank, you will get your loans, you will get your mortgages. Land, that land is your collateral.”
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