Decisions coming soon for Anegada land titles

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has promised to address some issues regarding land ownership on the sister island of Anegada.

Premier Wheatley said his Cabinet will decide on land titles for about one hundred and seventy persons in Anegada sometime this month.

“We’re going to make the decision for them to get their deeds,” the Premier said in the House of Assembly. “And that is something that will have a dramatic impact on their ability to be able to develop homes and businesses and build villas and whatever else.”

In late 2021, the government proposed a Land and Marine Estate Policy, which it said would serve as the framework to resolve the issues of land distribution and the claims of ancestral lands in Anegada.

In a meeting held with government ministers in Anegada at that time, residents expressed frustration at the lack of progress in having their land issues resolved.

Some residents claimed in the meeting that even though they had paid for land titles decades ago, they had not been registered properly in their names at the land registry.

There were also claims that some lands which were already paid for, were subsequently sold to others due to the reported discrepancies.

Meanwhile, the Premier also promised that there would be much activity coming to the island, contending that Anegada is one of the places in the territory with the most economic potential because of the availability of flat land.

“We have some projects we want to do over there in Anegada. We want to do a poultry project,“ Premier Wheatley said. He also promised that there will also be greenhouse initiatives and hotels in the works.

According to Premier Wheatley, some projects were not reflected in the budget because the government needs to do some level of planning to get it ‘budget-ready’.

Premier Wheatley noted that there will also be things happening in Virgin Gorda and Tortola as well.