Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
December 18, 2007 (CUOPM)
The St. Kitts – Nevis Labour Party Government is to take steps to streamline the sale and distribution of land.
Cabinet at its weekly meeting on Monday reviewed the policy and procedures for land distribution for residential, agricultural and commercial development.
“Cabinet alluded to the need for the creation of a single land sales agency in the future,” said Minister of State for Information, Sen. the Hon. Nigel Carty.
There are at present, there are six agencies, some of them corporations, charged with the responsibility of land sales and distribution.
Mr. Carty said that the Cabinet has approved a special plan to streamline the agencies over time and reduce their number to three, which will include The Ministry of Sustainable Development, the National Housing Corporation (HNHC) and a new Land Sales agency which, over time, will subsume the mandate of the four existing agencies.
The Ministry of Sustainable Development will focus on land policy, including the setting aside of land for agriculture, whereas the NHC will focus on the distribution of land under the subsidised programmes. The Land Sales Agency will be responsible for the sale of all other lands as set by policy.
Government is of the view that the Land Sales Agency will bring greater transparency and efficiency to the distribution of land for residential and commercial purposes, and will be established when all the necessary legal and other requirements will have been satisfied.