20th July, 2009

During the debate for the appointment of a Select Committee last week, neither of us elected to speak.

When, however, the Rt. Hon. Member advised the House that he would seek to make a statement on land related matters when the House next met, my immediate response was that we in the Opposition should also be entitled to speak on that occasion, even if another debate ensued.

The Member for North Abaco said he would have no objection.

During the suspension period, I asked the Leader of Opposition Business in the House, the Member for Bain & Grants Town, to take the required steps to seek the permission of the Speaker for an intervention by me at today’s sitting.

Mr. Speaker;
When I assumed the office of Prime Minister, I became responsible for the portfolio of Lands.  I was well aware of the history and policy of land legislation.

Some short time after Independence, I was advised that the Pindling Administration had prepared a land registration Bill, which was not passed.

Subsequently that administration responded to concerns over the disposition of land by putting in place the Immovable Property Act with the stated intention of protecting the rights of current and future generations of Bahamians.

When the Free National Movement assumed the governance of The Bahamas, the Immovable Property Act was described by the Rt. Hon. Member for North Abaco as wicked and intimidating.

The Act was repealed and the International Land Holdings Act was put in place.  This new Act enabled foreigners to purchase land in The Bahamas in an amount up to five acres without governmental approval, but simply by registering the purchase with the Foreign Investment Board.

The record will reflect that an enormous amount of Bahamian land throughout The Bahamas was sold under this process to foreigners, with the negative impact of driving up the price of land.

As Members are aware, the Government has recently reduced the amount to be purchased without permission to two acres.

Mr. Speaker;
What I met when I came to office was an acute sense of frustration experienced by Bahamians seeking a timely resolution to their applications for Crown Land.

Incessant queries and questions from residents of Andros, Mayaguana, Inagua, eastern Grand Bahama and their respective Members of Parliament.

In many instances, they were persons who, having been given permission by my predecessor, were simply waiting on their documents of title, which in turn, were delaying their ability to finance their homes or businesses.

It was a situation extraordinary in its capriciousness and inefficiency.  There were surveyors on staff with Lands & Surveys and a compelling need for urgent work, but even so, we could not seem to process the required work in a timely fashion.

We had to seek the assistance of outside surveyors to get even some of the work done in a timely fashion.

It was as extraordinary as it was scandalous.  Hundreds of Bahamians seeking approval, approved and waiting just too long for the processing of their land to be completed.

In retrospect and listening to this debate, I do agree that the structure in place fraught with weaknesses.

An application would be made to Lands & Surveys.  A recommendation for the grant would be sent to the Under Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister for the investigation and assessment of the application as to the amount and value of the land.

A recommendation would then be made by the Under Secretary to the Permanent Secretary who would then advise the Minister.

Mr. Speaker;
On any number of occasions, I sought to understand what the policy was and how it matched with some of the recommendations being made.

I sought to query the process to see what made sense and what did not.

A formal examination of the workings of Lands & Surveys and the approval process would clearly indicate that there was no consistent overarching or guiding policy in the recommendation and disposition of lands.

Too great a reliance was placed on too few officers to protect the integrity of the system.

This was made even more difficult by the need to utilise Crown Lands and other government lands in some instances to effect improvements in the economy by way of Foreign Direct Investment.

There were compelling challenges that I had to immediately confront.

How best to use public lands to foster sustainable development?
How best to empower Bahamians with a parcel of land for construction of a home for themselves?
Should not the country effect a buy-back policy of recouping for a national land bank some of the valuable and indeed critical parcels of Bahamian land in foreign hands?
How would be move away from the helter-skelter approach to land and put in place the instruments of planning to ensure Bahamians fair, timely and efficient access to public land?
How would this be made rational, nationally beneficial and transparent?
How to address the historic and traditional challenges associated with Bahamian land?
For example; commonage, generation property, land registration…
How to avoid the confusion arising out of conflict between communities and the central government over the disposition of land.
How to effect policies which serve the best interest of local communities?
 

As a result of a country report from the InterAmerican Development Bank and subsequent discussions in my Ministry, proposals for a major intervention in the administration and management of lands were designed.

I had the good fortune of being in a position to lead the way in having this land use policy and administration project implemented with a set of comprehensive reports and recommendations.

These reports and recommendations addressed many of the vital issues concerning Bahamian land under the sponsorship of the IDB.

The Member of Parliament for Fox Hill in his request for the Select Committee referred to the final reports and recommendations to improve the administration and management of lands in The Bahamas.

Mr. Speaker;
Generally, I tend to prefer to avoid naming public officers in debate.

But for the purpose of this communication, I would invite you to note that Mr. Jimmy Greaves served as my Under Secretary responsible for land matters and remained in that position as a principal advisor throughout my term.

Mr. Tex Turnquest, serving as Director of Lands & Surveys was invited by me to assume the lead responsibility in the Office of the Prime Minister for the LUPAP or Land Use Policy and Administration Project.  The Land reform project.

The Member for Fox Hill, in his contribution indicated a pressing need to put in place necessary protective procedures so as to ensure that we are able to properly account for the disposition of publicly owned lands in The Bahamas.

It is appropriate for me to encourage the Committee to work diligently and quickly to put in place that level of accountability

In this regard, I look forward to the success of the Committee and pledge my full support in its work.

Members will have the opportunity to learn of the extent of the recommendations to effect improvements in land tenure and security and to land administration in The Bahamas.

The recommendations include how to address issues arising in the management of commonage and generational properties and how to effect the required improvements in legislation, policy and practices to bring about greater effectiveness and greater levels of efficiencies with respect to public land.

The IDB sponsored LUPAP report recommended the crafting and establishment of a national land policy that incorporates interest in public and private lands and a comprehensive Lands Act to remove fragmentation and duplication and effect better co-ordination in the administration of land.

Mr. Speaker;
The Bahamas National Geographic Information System was revitalised and mandated to perform critical planning work in this IDB sponsored study.  As we were putting this historic venture in place, I undertook to strengthen further the capacity of our country to address even more detailed issues of planning.

In addition to the LUPAP and the revival of BNGIS, I employed a leading Canadian planner and placed him in the Office of the Prime Minister.

We recognised that our country was faced with major planning challenges and that this was an opportunity for us to put in place the resources to begin the process of comprehensive planning, covering development throughout the country.

In late 2006, I appointed a committee to design a policy on Crown Land.  The committee, I believe, finished its work early in 2007 and I hope that the Government will have the benefit of its recommendations.

As a result of my Government’s major investment programme and initiatives in New Providence, Exuma, Abaco, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama; I added to the expertise in the Office of the Prime Minister by contracting for special planning work EDAW, one of the world’s leading planning firms.

My ministry became engaged in aerial mapping of New Providence and Grand Bahama and satellite mapping in places like Eleuthera and Exuma, all with the view of using our collective expertise to ensure that the right strategic decisions were being made in the development of our country.

These decisions included strategies for disaster preparedness, the mitigation of coastal erosion and the creation and replenishment of beaches.  Significant work was done in this regard on beaches for New Providence by surveying the entire coast, with recommendations and costs for the reclamation of beaches that once existed.

Aerial and satellite pictures show the severe negative impacts from our historical lack of planning and the extent to which Bahamians have suffered from the inequities of development.

The committee should also take planning with respect to the use of public land into consideration, for example, we must avoid the experience that we have with Old Fort Bay, arguably the best beach on New Providence.  It is not only private, but it cannot even be seen by Bahamians from West Bay Street because all vantage points are closed off and in private hands.

The committee must bring planning and focus to protect the rights of Bahamians to experience and enjoy the beauty of their own country.  We believe that my government put in place the regime to begin this work.

Significant and comprehensive planning work was done for the islands of Eleuthera, with a draft master plan and Harbour Island.  A draft and with the commitment of the residents of Harbour Island planners commenced a master plan for Harbour Island.

Foreign Direct Investment projects are relevant to the work of this committee because this country must bring about a policy governing the use of public lands for investment purposes.  Similarly, a policy governing the buy back of lands for our national land bank.

I invite the committee to examine the Baker’s Bay and Winding Bay developments in Abaco and the process of the use of publicly owned lands for those developments; to examine the economic impact of those developments on jobs and on inflows of capital into the island.

I invite the committee also to examine the proposed use of public lands by my Government in the Bahamar project and the sad, almost incalculable loss in GDP impact.

The Committee should look at the Albany project and the manner in which it is using science and technology to place the Adelaide beach and its environs in a significantly superior condition to what it has been these past twenty years.

The Committee must examine the success of my Government’s policies in buying back for the country ten acres of land at Harbour Island; two hundred acres at West End, Grand Bahama five hundred acres in South Eleuthera and an agreement to purchase three hundred and fifty acres of property associated with the Albany development; and, with the assistance of Aplanalp family and the Member for North Abaco, an exchange and acquisition of land in the Abacos, which - inter alia - secured sufficient land for the necessary expansion of Grand Cay.

Then, the examination of the Mayaguana Development is the most vital consideration for the Committee as it concerns an approach that will be written about in the textbooks of the future for best practices in the innovative use of public lands to gain maximum economic, social and historical impact for the local Bahamian community.

This development ultimately involved ten thousand acres of public lands.

The Committee must recall the Member for North Abaco’s comments about how land is an emotive issue and easily exploited in terms of Bahamian’s emotions and concerns.  The Committee must determine the extent to which or if at all public lands should be used to secure sustainable development and good jobs.

In the process, it would be instructive for the committee to note that - at the very least - twenty to thirty thousand jobs will have to be created over the next five years if our country is to support new job entrants.

In this regard, the Mayaguana development will be most instructive.  The PLP prior to the General Elections of 2002 promised, in its platform that, if elected, it would promote such a development in a remote sector of The Bahamas.

We won the election and with the moral authority of that victory we elected to place such a development in Mayaguana.  As part of the approval process, extensive consultations took place with the people of Mayaguana.

Mayaguanians inside and outside of the island were consulted.  We negotiated a joint venture with the government owning 50% of the development, but with the developer paying the government for the land and meeting the cost of agreed infrastructure.  This development would have led to major positive economic impacts on the surrounding islands.

The critical consideration for the committee is to contrast this development.

The government would be able to determine to whom land is sold and the rate at which it is sold, whilst ensuring that Bahamians will be included with the necessary subsidies and incentives.

When compared with the current position where foreigners were able to buy up to 5 acres and now up to 2 acres without permission anywhere in The Bahamas, one can see how the Mayaguana development would remain firmly under the control and direction of the government with the obvious positive impact of sustainable development and - ultimately - hundreds of jobs.

These are considerations for the Committee and I believe for the country as we endeavour to settle an approach with respect to the use of publicly owned land for the empowerment of Bahamians and for the creation of economic development under transparent land policy initiatives.

Mr. Speaker;
As we speak, communities throughout our Commonwealth are hindered in their development by unplanned and unregulated growth and many Bahamians are being frustrated and held back by not having title to land that they occupy.

I believe that the work of my Ministry and my government has advanced significantly the progress of The Bahamas in addressing and overcoming these obstacles.

Mr. Speaker;
The Minister of State in the Office of the PM, the Member for Pinewood indicated in his contribution that if there were any skulduggery it would be on the part of my government that approved subsequent transactions involving the grant of land at Forbes Hill that were sold for substantial sums of money.

I must also say for the information of Members that there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that my colleagues and I are blameless and would have no degree of involvement or knowledge whatever of any skulduggery involved with that land and we look forward to the committee confirming that fact.