New Land Registration Office opens on Praslin |30 March 2023
The new office is located on the ground floor of the Pension Fund Building at Grand Anse Praslin
The Ministry of Lands and Housing will soon start accepting claims from members of the public with interests in land on Praslin and La Digue through its newly opened Land Registration Project (LRP) office on Praslin.
The new office is located on the ground floor of the Pension Fund Building at Grand Anse Praslin. It was officially opened last Friday by the Minister for Lands and Housing, Billy Rangasamy, and the ministry’s adjudication officer, Oduor Makoniare, in the presence of the Minister for Internal Affairs, Errol Fonseka; the Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry, Devika Vidot; members of the National Assembly; liaison officers and other dignitaries.
A Land Registration Project is a technical process involving the systematic identification, surveying and confirmation of boundaries, procedures of possession, ownership and any other rights of land that are formally recorded. The process ensures evidence of title to facilitate transaction. For the purpose of the LRP, Praslin and La Digue have been declared as an Adjudication area, and will be further subdivided into 6 Adjudication Sections. Praslin will comprise of Sections 1 to 4 and La Digue will comprise of Sections 5 and 6.
Mr Makoniare has been appointed as the adjudication officer for the project, and will be responsible for its implementation.
He has been instrumental in the development of numerous land surveying projects in Seychelles and will be working alongside a core team of 11 specialist officers.
Although 84% of land on Praslin and 46% on La Digue have been surveyed, only a small percentage of land parcels have already been transferred onto the new Land Register. The opening of the new office will ensure the completion of this process.
Seychelles conducted a similar project in the 1980s. Through technical support from the British government, the country was able to register all land on the main island, Mahé. Land which had already been surveyed was recorded on the new Land Registration.
Upon completion of the earlier project for Mahé, the next step was to conduct the same exercise for Praslin and La Digue. The project for land registration on Praslin and La Digue progressed in two phases.
The first phase was to compile information for all surveyed plots of the two islands. And the second phase, which is now ongoing, is to carry out survey work on un-surveyed plots of land on Praslin and La Digue. At this stage, it is important to call on any person who has any interest in land on Praslin and La Digue to ensure that they prepare all relevant documents to ensure the smooth running of the project.
In February 2022, Minister Rangasamy officially launched the Land Registration Project for Praslin and La Digue by officially declaring the adjudication area to be covered under the project.
The project will be implemented as per provisions in the Adjudication of Title Decree.
At the official opening, Mr Rangasamy thanked all stakeholders for their contribution in the LRP and the successful opening of the Praslin office.
“I would like to call on everyone to work together so that the project may be completed within the appointed time or even before.”
Minister Rangasamy pointed out the importance of the project to individual landowners such as the increase in their ease of doing business and access to financial support.
He expressed that his ministry was mindful of the role of the inner islands to the country’s development and it shall therefore continue its efforts to improve the land registration situation of the islands, which will eventually be digitalised.
On his part, the chairman of the LRP Committee, Gerard Hoareau, called on all landowners to participate in the project.
“I need to stress that for the time being, there is no rush for all property owners on Praslin or La Digue to clog the LRP Office. But, I urge you, to start putting your papers in order and to keep an eye on the anticipated notices on section openings,” he said.
Wendy Pierre, the Registrar General, expressed her appreciation for the office and how it will assist her division in decentralising their services and bringing them closer to inner island inhabitants at a lower cost.
The members of National Assembly present also called on the community to make use of services to be offered by the new LRP office.
Hon. Wavel Woodcock said presently Praslinois have to travel to Mahé for land registration related procedures, which was costly.
“Therefore this project and the new office will be of benefit to the entire Praslinois community. This is an opportunity to formalise your land documents so come and make the most of it,” he said.
For her part, Hon. Doyace Porice said this was an old request from many MNAs before her but it never came to fruition.
“I am proud that the minister could finally launch the project which will surely be useful, cost effective and readily available to all Praslinois,” she said.
Hon. Churchill Gill said he had personally fought for this service for the inner islands since the 6th cohort of the National Assembly as he was always concerned with the difficulties faced by the inhabitants when liaising with banks or other institutions requiring title deeds.
He added this was often a problem as most land is registered on the old register.
“I call on all inhabitants to prepare all their necessary documents and await the call of their specific adjudication section to come forward and be advised of procedures to transfer their land on the new register. In the end, it is the new register which will be recognised so do not miss this opportunity to participate in the project, which is at your door step without such high costs as in the past,” he said.
The LRP is expected to be in place for 5 years with the possibility of an extension if necessary.
Text by Nadia Bedier
Photos by Romano Laurence
