Crown Land Bills debut in TCI Parliament; what the Attorney General announced

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, March 2, 2023 – The Government is aiming for quick wins with the implementation of phase one of the amendments to the Crown Land Ordinance said Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles, KC who is the Turks and Caicos Islands Attorney General.  The AG, on Tuesday February 28, laid the Crown Land Ordinance Amendment bill and the Crown Land Amnesty Bill in the House of Assembly to high anticipation.

The bills, likely the first of many, were created in an effort to tackle the list of 146 recommendations listed in the Crown Land Review, published in December, upon which the Government and UK agreed.

The Attorney General explained, the recommendations would be implemented in a phased approach with the first debated on Tuesday to focus on Residential CPLs or Conditional Purchase Leases.

“Those persons who have residential Conditional Purchase Leases where the CPL is still registered in the land register are the individuals who are the targets of this first set of changes. This first phase is to roll out those recommendations that are considered ‘quick wins’ that can be delivered with minimal but additional resources and without delay,” she said.

It’s a welcome development after decades of agitation from residents regarding the scarcity of crown land and years of exorbitant rent and housing prices.  Washington Misick, TCI Premier had announced at the State of the State Address on Monday night, that the bill would be debated; it was mere hours before the bill was due to be tabled in parliament.

Premier Misick said some of the firsts things the government sought to institute through these two bills are:

• An amnesty program to forgive outstanding rent and claims allowing leases to purchase the land their houses are built on.
• An extension of the amount of time residents receive to accept a government offer on a piece of land from three to six months
• Allowing a write-off of arrears for persons wishing to surrender Conditional Purchase Leases (CPL)
• Allow the administrator of an estate with an expired CPL to buy the land back from the government once it serves as their primary residence
• Establish a 2 year amnesty relieving residents who apply from the payment of rent and other CPLs to the government.

The premier indicated they would be embarking on a ‘massive’ affordable housing program which included revamping housing in run down communities to entice residents to move back in rather than use more crown land for new housing.

As for all the other recommendations which number over 100, Braithwaite Knowles said, “Given the extensiveness and the complexity of the recommendations as well as the involvement of several government agencies and departments, the next phase involves the engagement of subject matter experts to work with the relevant public officers to develop a delivery plan and to lead its delivery we will also return to the house to propose additional legislative changes.”