As part of the Land Tenure Administration Reform Programme the Government of Dominica contracted consultants Brown & Co. of the United Kingdom to develop a White Paper to address land tenancy arrangements in Dominica and to prepare Drafting Instructions which could allow for relevant amendments/changes to the Agricultural Small Tenancies Act, the Title by Registration Act (1886) and the Land Survey Act (1988).
The consultancy is funded by the European Union and forms part of a wider programme under the Government of Dominica Land Tenure and Administration Reform Programme (LTARP). The major objectives of this programme are: – to provide of a clear and transparent legal framework for land registration, ownership and tenancy; to adopt improved systems to facilitate and guarantee property rights and efficient methods of property transfer and to strengthen the capacity of and linkages between key institutions and agents of Government involved in the administration of land.
Among the many issues which were considered during the consultancy include Land Title, Security of Tenure, Agricultural Tenancies, Idle Land, the status of Family Land, Planning Controls, Land Use Policy and Survey Regulations.
To date a series of consultation/meetings have been conducted with relevant stakeholders namely farmers, land owners, lawyers, surveyors and others concerned with the land title process, land administration, land use, land tenure arrangements and agriculture.
In effort to allow for further representation and feedback on the White Paper and the recommendations for legislative amendments from members of the public, the legal profession, those involved with land administration, farmers and landowners, a consultation is planned to review the draft documents as submitted by the consultants. The consultation is carded for Wednesday 20th July, 2011 from 5:00pm at the Public Service Training Centre, Bayfront Roseau.
The attendance of all concerned is welcome.
Are we serious here- in 2011 we still need foreign consultants in Dominica to teach the legal framework for land registration, ownership and tenancy; property transfer etc. Transparency can only be implemented by strict enforcement of the laws. The government must enforce the laws and impose harsh penalties against the unscrupulous lawyers who have over the years swindled the money and property from unsuspecting citizens of Dominica.
Is it lack of understanding that a trained lawyer in a simple land purchase deal forgot to pay the taxes. As a Dominican who has done several land purchase transactions it behooves me to think that a lawyer can actually forget to pay the taxes on a land purchase when in my experience the government tax portion of the deal is ALWAYS of prime consideration. To me it is like forgetting the lawyer fees- I am absolutely sure that the lawyer fee was not forgotten. That said I wonder whether or not the lawyer forgot to pay taxes on the income received for the said land transaction. Just a thought.
I say all this to emphasize that we keep trying to reinvent the wheel and that we never seem to tackle the problem from the root. Too much corruption in the system- politicians in bed with lawyers , lawyers in bed with drug dealers , pastors in bed with lawyers and politicians ( I did not say Carnival queen lol). It is time to clean up the entire system. It is time to start jailing the real crooks in our country. I guarantee that once we irradicate this high level of corruption we will begin to see positive changes