Holness urges formal land ownership as 124 Manchester residents receive titles

Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, urged more Jamaicans to regularise land ownership as 124 Manchester residents received certificates of title at a ceremony in Mandeville under the Systematic Land Registration Programme.

The event, staged by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development and the National Land Agency, focused on beneficiaries from communities including Greenvale, Mike Town, Claremont and Victoria Town. Officials said the titles give families legal security, help settle boundaries, and make land more useful as an economic asset.

Holness, who is also minister of economic growth and infrastructure development, said many Jamaicans live on family land handed down through generations without formal registration. He warned that occupation alone does not provide the same protection as a registered title, especially when disputes arise over inheritance, boundaries or competing claims.

The Prime Minister said informal settlement has also created wider development problems, including communities built without proper roads, water, sewage systems and public facilities. He said land use must be planned alongside infrastructure, housing and economic opportunities if communities are to support a better quality of life.

Minister without portfolio Robert Montague said the National Land Agency is marking 25 years of operation and has created and distributed more than 13,000 titles over the past five years. He outlined two routes to ownership: systematic registration, where the Government declares and processes an area, and voluntary registration, where individuals apply through the agency.

Permanent Secretary Arlene Williams said the Manchester handover follows the distribution of more than 700 titles in St Elizabeth in December 2025. Manchester Central MP Rhoda Moy Crawford said the certificates would allow recipients to access loans, invest in homes or farming, transfer property more easily, and build generational wealth.