By Kim Young-ho
Under a new Jamaican government program, 200 residents on July 22 will receive titles to properties where some have lived for decades as “owners” in name only. The change secures the benefits of legal home ownership and helps families, many headed by women, step into the economic mainstream of the Caribbean nation.
Issuance of 200 titles is the result of a land survey and registration project called the Land Administration & Management Program (LAMP II), which was undertaken by Jamaica with technical assistance supplied by the Seoul-based Korea Cadastral Survey Corp. (KCSC).
An average reader may wonder why a mere 200 land titles should be newsworthy. From the perspective of Jamaicans, however, owning a land title represents liberation from their historical legacy. It is about their dignity and pride. It is about hopes and dreams. And it is about opportunities.
KCSC, a semi-government organization, provides land surveying and mapping, data processing, land information system development and operation, property information and consulting services. The services under the program are being provided at an affordably reduced rate to help Jamaicans register their land titles.
“My father passed away in the 1980s while awaiting his title process,” said a land title owner from the previous LAMP I program. For seven years following her father’s death, she tried without success to secure a title to the property that her father had bequeathed to her.
Among the problems she faced was the lack of formal land registration that showed her family’s connection to the land and an accurate survey of the property’s boundaries.
KCSC and Geoland Title were contracted in 2010 to manage the LAMP II project in the parishes of St. Elizabeth, one of the parishes known for its low rate of registration, and its neighboring parishes of Manchester and Clarendon.
The program provides training in land surveying, land registration and title issuances to the local residents with the ultimate aim of establishing an efficient land information system.
According to her, LAMP serves not only the affected property owners, but “the country as a whole.” By paying property taxes, “those of us with parcels of unregistered land will in the near future begin making our contribution to the government’s coffers.”
This is but one small anecdote in a larger story. Most people living in democratic, market economies could not begin to fathom what it would mean to live in a system without efficient land administration.
Without such a system, there will be constant legal disputes among family members and neighbors over land ownership. Without such a system, one cannot buy or sell land, and a real estate market cannot grow.
Without such a system, land cannot be put into efficient use. And without such a system, the government cannot collect tax revenues. An efficient land administration system is a prerequisite for market economies to flourish.
Good land administration is also about getting the fundamentals in order. At a time when millions of people are struggling to clean up the mess left behind by the bursting of a housing “bubble,” it reminds us that such “down to earth” programs can make life more beautiful.
Three KCSC employees were assigned to work in Jamaica on LAMP II, the first overseas project in which the company made a direct investment. The Jamaican government in collaboration with KCSC and Geoland Title continues to work on finding ways to expedite the process of issuing titles.
This project in land titling has whetted KCSC’s interest in pursuing similar work in other Jamaican parishes and other countries in need of similar development.
Kim Young-ho is president of the Korea Cadastral Survey Corp. (KCSC).