Qualified residents in possession of unregistered parcels of land in sections of Lawrence Tavern, St. Andrew, are set to have their lands formally registered thanks to the VM Foundation, in partnership with the National Land Agency (NLA).
The residents are being assisted as part of the first phase of the Land Titling Project Agreement signed by the entities in December 2022. The partnership sees the VM Foundation providing grant funding of $30 million over three years to the NLA to assist with cadastral survey costs for voluntary titling of lands in selected parishes.
On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, representatives from the Foundation and the NLA will visit the community to engage with interested residents and begin the process of registering for the grants. Each qualifying applicant will benefit from a grant of a maximum of $75,000 to assist with the surveyor’s cost in the process of obtaining a registered title.
Speaking at an information session held with prospective beneficiaries at the Oberlin High Conference Centre on Wednesday, January 17, CEO of the VM Foundation, Samantha Charles, said the partnership was a good fit given the Foundation’s mandate of empowering the most vulnerable. She shared, “the surveyor’s cost tends to be the most expensive part of the land registration process and can often prove prohibitive. The VM Group through the VM Foundation stepped up to provide grants to allow qualified residents to start this process. Land ownership provides economic stability, and this is increased when the landowner has a registered title in hand. With a registered title, you can go to a financial institution and use it as collateral to get a loan for different purposes. A registered land title opens a host of opportunities for you to better your life and that of your family for generations to come.”
The session was held to inform residents about the project, the communities that are to be served, and what they will need to qualify for the grant.
Nickoy Young, Manager of the Land Administration and Management Division at the NLA, encouraged the residents to take advantage of the opportunity and come out to be registered on February 7.
Young advised, “a surveyor’s diagram is important because it allows us to know how much land you have, the layout of the land and what your boundaries are, which is critical to obtaining a registered title. If you have a surveyor’s diagram over seven years old, it will also need to be updated so that you can complete the application process. With this grant, the VM Foundation is offering you the opportunity to bypass this cost. To qualify, you must be able to prove that the property is occupied by you, and that you have possession of the land. It might not necessarily be the property that you are residing on, but you must have control of it and the critical thing is that the ownership or occupation of the land should not be in dispute.”
The registration session will be held at the Oberlin High School Conference Centre in the community on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Residents like Margaret Creary, who is from the Mount Ogle Community, are looking forward to the event. After the information session, she commented, “I think this is a very good venture and that’s why I came out today to get more details. I have been waiting for this kind of situation for a while because I have land that I wanted to be registered. I think the grant is very good because time is very hard now and getting that amount of money to help defray your costs is really worthwhile. I thank the VM Foundation and the NLA for thinking of this and I look forward to how it will work out.”
The three-year partnership is expected to benefit approximately 400 residents in sections of St. Catherine, St. Thomas, Portland, St Mary and St. Andrew.
