Golding makes fresh bid to overhaul Crown lands law

SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Following two failed attempts to introduce a private member’s bill that would reduce the qualifying period for Jamaicans illegally occupying Crown lands from 60 to 25 years, People's National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding announced that another attempt will be made to have the bill accepted by Parliament. Golding stated this will take place as soon as Parliament returns from its summer break which is slated for Tuesday. “And I will seek the support of both sides of the House of Representatives to pass it into law. We want justice when it comes to land in Jamaica,” stated Golding as he delivered the main addressing the PNP’s 88th Annual Conference at Independence Park in Savanna-la-Mar on Sunday. ​According to Golding, he took the bill to Parliament in July, where two attempts were made to have it tabled before the summer recess. “I was blocked from doing so by the Speaker of the House.” Currently, the qualifying period to acquire ownership of Government land through adverse possession — the legal principle allowing individuals to claim ownership of land through unauthorised, continuous, and open occupation for a specific period — is 60 years. This contrasts with the 12 years it takes for persons occupying private property to be able to make a claim. Golding pointed out that this duration was legislated in the 1830s around the time of emancipation, when life expectancy in Jamaica was less than 60 years. “The formerly enslaved people of Jamaica were not given any land at emancipation, and that 60-year rule was plainly intended to ensure that the people did not acquire ownership of land by possession when they left those plantations,” argued Golding. “That is why I have prepared the legislation entitled The Crown Lands Reform Act 2026, which seeks Parliament to reduce 60 years to 25 years, subject to a fair legal process. Golding said the proposed bill would also enable an area impacted by a disaster such as Hurricane Melissa last October, to be declared a Disaster Adjudication Area so that legitimate claims for ownership by possession or otherwise can be settled quickly and titles issued to those who can establish their entitlement. The Opposition Leader had first made the proposal for the change in the law while on the campaign trail in the lead up to the September 2025 General Election. At that time Golding had told a party meeting in Spanish Town, St Catherine: “When I think of all the thousands of Jamaicans who live on land, and have occupied that land for years but don’t have security of tenure, and they can’t use their investment in the property to further themselves with education, or in business or to deal with any emergency, I say time come to reform that 1833 law that says you have to be on land of government for 60 years before you can become an owner. “And we going to drop it substantially so that the people who have been there for at least 25 years will be entitled to their titles. It’s not one or two, but tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans who will benefit from becoming owners of the rock because of that one piece of emancipatory legislation that we will be bringing forward”.