By Deandrea Hamilton
Editor
#TurksandCaicos, December 13, 2022 – Crown Land management will likely not be returning to a cabinet ministerial portfolio following the recommendation in the freshly published report, made available by the Office of the Premier on December 8.
On page 120 it is surmised that: “Before the Crown Land Ordinance 2012, the administration of Crown land for residential purposes came under the Ministry of Natural Resources. It was said that the absence of legislative control of Crown land made it “susceptible to ministerial abuse”151 and it became clear that the Minister had indeed become personally involved in directing the relevant public servants to make particular land grants.152 In response, this recommendation was made: “ensure complete independence of the departmental body to be entrusted by the proposed new legislation from ministerial involvement or interference in its individual allocations of Crown Land by way of lease or sale.”
The last decade, the report explains, has severed the tie to cabinet ministers sufficiently enough that risk is at an all-time low. The mitigation of the risk of undue influence has also opened the door to expanding the function of land allocation beyond the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Crown Land Unit. Now, the dispersal of this valuable resource could involve a new Housing Entity.
According to the report, the Housing Entity would be established to support land distribution and while the proposal is for this body of appointees to review only residential lots in a highly choreographed system, the AGs office will continue to work directly with the Crown Land Unit in dishing out larger tracts of land.
This change, if accepted by the masses, may result in expediting residential land purchases or it could prove more cumbersome as it once again relies on the proper staffing of the Housing Entity and equitable management which would employ a points system.
“We propose that in the first stage a civil service caseworker in the Housing Entity should apply the points system to a particular Crown land allocation and come to a provisional decision. In the second stage, the caseworker’s
provisional decision should be sent to a new Housing Points Board which has the task of reviewing and making changes if needed to the caseworker’s provisional decision. The Housing Points Board would be composed of: o the Permanent Secretary for Physical Planning, Infrastructure and Development or their delegate o the Permanent Secretary for Finance or their delegate o the Director of Social Development or their delegate o a member with a professional legal qualification o 6 lay members.”
While the report favours this approach as low risk for corruption; there are expressed misgivings about the powers which would be legally granted to the appointees of the Housing Entity.
“Our view is that if the Housing Entity is going to be involved in large and costly infrastructure projects, and also involved in the oversight of wide-ranging housing issues from rehousing inhabitants of informal settlements to subsidising rents for the poor, enforcing non-payment, and monitoring housing supply, then it needs to be closely integrated within the civil service. Such a broad set of functions will require continual contact with other civil service departments and unimpeded access to civil service resources.”
A determination is the Housing Entity not evolve to a statutory body, for example but be grafted into the Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructure Development. The report makes it clear that it is an absolute must for the members of the Housing Entity be completely un-influenced by the elected government.
Housing Points are expected to be the equalizer; giving a final score to determine which applicants are successful for the land in question. It is also recommended that the Governor and Cabinet decide on the transfer of that land through the Crown Lands Unit. The Housing Entity and Housing Points Boards will have no authority to transfer land, says the report.
Recommendation 43, is one of 146 recommendations which have emerged in a report summarizing the results of weeks of interviews, surveys and online engagement in an effort to amend the current Crown Land Ordinance.
The Turks and Caicos Islands and United Kingdom are working on this modernization together. Washington Misick, TCI Premier said “I welcome the joint review final report as it remains my governments vision to seek equitable access for the people of these islands.”
Lord Zac Goldsmith, UK Overseas Territories Minister said “I welcome this joint review and it’s set of practical and well-considered recommendations to improve the utility of crown land in TCI and generate a more efficient and transparent process,” adding that, “The TCI Government has our full support as they move ahead to implementation and delivery of these reforms.”
The 400 page report was completed by R Donhue Gardiner, TCI Attorney with experience in land law and policy development in TCI, and Professor Simon Cooper PhD, an expert in Caribbean land law and registration systems.