Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 29, 2022 (SKNIS): Seven residents of Abbots Housing Development in West Farm were proud recipients of their Blank Certificate of Title (COT) that were distributed to them at a significant ceremony held at the NAGICO Conference Room on Friday, July 29, 2022.
The Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, Minister of Health et al and Parliamentary Representative for Constituency three (3), was in attendance at the ceremony and echoed her pleasure at seeing this initiative through to fruition.
“It is really a pleasure to be here with you this morning and to be able to be handing over to you the Certificates of Titles and I just want to reiterate what was already said before me, the documents that you are being provided with is your surety that the lands that you have been squatting on are yours,” said Minister Byron-Nisbett. “All you have to do is pay a small cost of two (2) dollars a square foot and all the information will be filled in. Nobody can come and claim your property. It is yours, the documents are yours.”
Minister Byron-Nisbett said that the government made the process much easier by bearing some of the cost.
“What you are receiving are documents that already have the surveys completed so that you don’t have to do that part. Sustainable Development is telling you that cost is not a burden to you because they are taking that cost,” she said. “Additionally, what they have done is provided you with the documents itself so that all you have to do when you’ve finished paying off is go straight to the lawyers and say you’re done and that property is yours.”
She appealed to the residents to understand what the government has done for them so that they too can officially earn a piece of the rock.
“They present you with the certificates with your boundaries laid out; they paid the surveys for you; they are not requiring you to pay any down payment; they are giving you two years interest-free to pay off for the lands at two dollars per square foot,” she said. I don’t think you can ever hear of anything like that happening anywhere else and so I want you to understand and appreciate that. There are going to be people who are going to twist and provide misinformation but we can’t allow them to do that.”
Similar to La Guerite North Housing Development, residents of Abbots must follow several requirements. To maintain a beautiful surrounding and ensure there is value-added to the properties, owners will not be permitted to fence their properties with galvanize/galvalume. Additionally, no resident will be permitted to rear goats, sheep, or pigs in the area. However, the residents were encouraged to engage in backyard gardening/farming.
