Residents of Mount Carey, St James, repair a flood-damaged road on Labour Day. Usually commemorated on May 23, Labour Day was shifted to May 25 this year. - Photo by Hope Evans

If the Cabinet has its way, the Land Divestment Advisory Committee will no longer have a say in the divestiture of state-owned houses and certain categories of land.

Last Monday, Cabinet placed its seal of approval on further amendments to the Crown Property (Vesting) Act that is essentially seeking to bypass the advisory committee in specific cases of divestment.

Daryl Vaz, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with responsibility for information and telecommunications, made the announcement during last Wednesday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

"The Cabinet considered and approved the issuing of further drafting instructions for an amendment to the Crown Property (Vesting) Act to provide for the minister to make an order to exempt certain categories of divestment of lands from being routed through the Land Divestment Advisory Committee," Vaz revealed.

Exempt categories

✘ The handover of land owned or held in trust by the commissioner of lands to the other government entities;

✘ The divestment of properties owned by the National Insurance Fund, the National Water Commission, the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation and the parish councils;

✘ Bauxite land, excluding those to be divested after mining has ended and lands certified, restored and returned to the commissioner of land;

✘ The rental or divestment, by way of lease, of government-owned houses.

In an interview last Thursday, Vaz said the exemptions would only apply to intragovernment divestments. The minister argued that his administration is trying to shorten an already lengthy process in a bid to make it more efficient.

"Now the truth of the matter is that it is one Government, it is just a matter of converting from one agency to the other."

He added: "So once there is consensus within the Government, it should cut down the time - it is a time-saving process as well."

Vaz pointed out that the proposed amendments to the act came from the technical staff at the OPM. He referred The Gleaner to Rohan Richards, principal director for land administration and management at the OPM for further details. Efforts to get a comment from Richards were not successful.

The bid to amend the the Crown Property (Vesting) Act is still in its embryonic stages.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com

Cadet Joseph Mitchell (centre) is supported by Lieutenant Michael Johnson (right) and a member of the Holy Cross Church, Jolene Forrestor, as he secures a piece of steel in the ground. The cadets from Kingston College and other volunteers joined with the Digicel Foundation on Labour Day to make improvements to the Best Care Lodge in Kingston. - Contributed