After surveying 800 lots of government-owned land in Eau Piquant, Pomme, Augier, and Cantonment, the government has announced that residents can expect to receive official titles within the next two weeks. An additional 200 lots in Belair have also been surveyed.
The initiative forms part of the government’s new land rationalisation programme, which grants ownership to those who have lived on Crown, or state, land (under 8 000 sq ft) for over 30 years, and is being implemented in phases across selected communities. The policy was first announced by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Philip J Pierre during his April budget address.
During a brief sitting of the House of Assembly on Tuesday, Housing Minister Richard Frederick provided an update on the programme’s rollout.
“In the next two weeks, persons from Eau Piquant, Pomme, Augier and Cantonment will be given letters identifying the block and parcel number, and the area of occupation pursuant to which their deeds will be facilitated,” he said. “Those deeds will be deeds of donation from the Government of Saint Lucia to the relevant occupants of the property.”
For those who have been living on Crown lands for less than 30 years, Frederick said the government will offer the land at a concessionary rate of $2.50 per square foot.
“Mr Speaker, that exercise will continue in the Gros Islet area, Dennery North, La Borne and other places,” he added.
At the start of his presentation, the minister sought to clarify the scope of the initiative. In an interview with St Lucia Times, he explained that his comments were in response to criticism from the opposition, which had implied that the initiative was already underway prior to the Pierre administration.
Reasserting the existing land laws, Frederick stated during his parliamentary address: “I want to disabuse the minds of some persons who seemingly have digested misinformation stating that as long as you are on the land for 30 years, you are entitled to that property.”
He continued, “That only goes, Mr Speaker, for private lands, and that does not apply to Crown lands.”
The minister clarified that while the Civil Code allows individuals who have peacefully occupied privately owned land for 30 years without interference to seek title through the courts, the same does not apply to Crown lands under existing law.
“What the Prime Minister actually said [during his budget address] is that if you have been on Crown lands—notwithstanding the law that says you cannot prescribe against the Crown—we are now instituting a new government policy to give the occupants who have been there for thirty years title, irrespective of the law saying you cannot get Crown land even if you are there for 100 years,” the minister told St Lucia Times.
In his budget address, Pierre indicated that squatting on private lands remains a separate issue that will be addressed later, with the Ministries of Housing and Physical Planning assisting in formalising tenancy arrangements “to ensure fair treatment to the owners of these lands”.
I just do not trust anything this man says