Prime Holness Fulfils Commitment to Ensure Clifton Community in St. Catherine Regularised After Decades of Neglect by Previous Administrations
“When I took over as Prime Minister in 2016, my entire focus was on how we can accelerate this process of giving more Jamaicans the opportunity—the orderly and fair opportunity to own land. And we looked at the entirety of this sugar plantation, and we created a development area—the formal development of communities that people can, through the market or through social housing, get formal and fair access to land.”
– Prime Minister Holness
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has demonstrated a firm commitment to empowering Jamaican citizens through legal land ownership by awarding 300 land titles to the residents of Clifton in St. Catherine. This landmark move is a significant step towards the government’s broader strategy to accelerate land ownership regularization and promote legal settlements across the nation. It also brings to an end the decades-old matter of land tenure for residents in Clifton.
Reflecting on the deep historical roots of the Clifton community, which is located on former sugar lands, Prime Minister Holness highlighted the enduring legacy of the plantation era and the systemic injustices faced by enslaved persons and their descendants.
“It is a happy day that the children of enslaved persons, whose forebears struggled cutting cane for the profit of the plantation owner, without any prospect of owning any property or accumulating any wealth. A hundred and ninety years later, since the end of that system, today, you can say, I own a piece of the estate that my forebears struggled on,” remarked Prime Minister Holness.
The Prime Minister stressed the economic and social significance of land ownership and noted that while the title is an important piece of paper, it represents much more than just ownership. Prime Minister Holness explained that it also symbolizes the ability to use the property to acquire and advance economic independence.
Importantly, Prime Minister Holness emphasized the importance of transitioning from informal settlements to formalized land ownership, providing residents with both security and economic empowerment.
“When I took over as Prime Minister in 2016, my entire focus was on how we can accelerate this process of giving more Jamaicans the opportunity—the orderly and fair opportunity to own land. And we looked at the entirety of this sugar plantation, and we created a development area, the formal development of communities that people can, through the market or through social housing, get formal and fair access to land.”
The award of titles also includes the development of essential infrastructure to enhance the value of the properties and improve living conditions.
“We have an obligation as a state to ensure that you can get the highest value out of your property. We commit to assisting you, and we have already started a process to see to the implementation of proper infrastructure for the residents of Clifton,” said the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Holness had announced in his 2024 budget presentation a substantial investment in the regularization of inner-city communities.
“I announced [in March] that we will be allocating fifteen billion dollars to deal with the regularization of certain inner-city communities that have been informally settled. We wouldn’t be able to spend fifteen billion dollars in one year, so it’s a five-year program, and Clifton will be one of those communities that will benefit from that allocation,” highlighted Prime Minister Holness.
This initiative is to ensure that all communities, regardless of their economic status, have access to essential services and amenities.
“As we develop this area, the infrastructure that is developed must also benefit the people of Clifton. And as we bring water in, it should not be a challenge for the people of Clifton to get water.”
Prime Minister Holness reaffirmed his commitment to speeding up the process of land ownership and regularization across Jamaica to ensure that every citizen has the opportunity to own a piece of their homeland.
The Prime Minister was speaking on Tuesday (July 30) at the Title Handing Over Ceremony in Clifton, St. Catherine.