House hears land titling reforms and tourism concerns in sectoral debate

The House of Representatives continued the sectoral debate at Gordon House on June 9, 2026, with presentations from Robert Montague, Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development with responsibility for land titling and settlements, and Andrea Purkis, Member of Parliament for Hanover Eastern.

Opening the sitting, the Speaker welcomed members, media representatives, visitors in the gallery and Jamaicans following online and by broadcast. She also acknowledged presiding officers from the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic region who attended the 22nd ParlAmericas plenary assembly and the 10th gathering of the Open Parliament Network in Ottawa, Canada, from May 19 to 22.

Montague said Jamaica faces a major land documentation challenge, noting that about 970,000 land parcels are on the valuation roll, while roughly 550,000 have registered titles. He said the country may need about 600,000 new titles to fully address issues involving untitled land, informal subdivisions, non-owner occupation and land settlements.

He outlined plans to expand land-titling capacity through training, digitisation, more adjudication committees and the introduction of electronic titles by next September. He also said a property watch service is being explored to alert landowners when attempts are made to title their property, amid concern about abuse of adverse possession arrangements.

Montague said new entrants onto Crown lands after June 9 would not be considered for settlement programmes, and warned that persons selling government land would face prosecution while buyers would lose their money. He also updated the House on containerised housing following Hurricane Melissa, saying estimated need had fallen to roughly 2,000 to 2,500 people, while 2,724 units were available or pledged, including 200 donated by China.

Purkis used her maiden sectoral presentation to criticise the Government’s handling of tourism, saying headline arrival and earnings figures do not reflect the pressure facing workers, local transport operators, small hotels, guest houses, farmers, entertainers and Airbnb operators.

She questioned the pace of hotel reopenings after Hurricane Melissa, called for clearer timelines and extended mortgage moratoriums for affected workers, and said tourism assistance had reached too few people in Eastern Hanover and St. James Southern. She also argued that tourism leakage, import dependence, cruise sector decline and foreign control of key services continue to limit the sector’s benefit to Jamaicans.

The House later approved shipping garbage pollution regulations under the Shipping Act and adjourned to June 10.