Codrington Trust Willing to Collaborate with Authorities to Address Land Changeover Concerns, but Declines to Comment on Individual Cases

Officials of the Codrington Trust say they are willing to work with the relevant authorities to ensure that descendants and qualified tenants are not disadvantaged when it comes to the changeover of land from the Trust to those individuals.

However, making it clear that he would not be commenting on any individual case, Executive Secretary of the Codrington Trust Kevin Farmer declined to respond directly to concerns raised by some residents that they have not received title deeds despite paying for the land.

“The Trust looks forward to working with all tenants along with the relevant ministries of government in ensuring that those who are qualified are given their fair and equitable share and that no one is disadvantaged. That to me is the most important thing,” Farmer told Barbados TODAY when contacted on the issue.

“Beyond that, one would have to look at the individual cases, because I am aware that persons when they do come to the Trust have been told that they can bring legal representation, or in some cases, we provide them with a letter that they can take to the Ministry of Housing. That is the most that we can say because we won’t comment on individual cases,” he said.

However, last Saturday at a meeting organised by Junior Mayers and Ras Ian of the Tenants and Farmers Union, residents told representatives of the Ministry of Housing and Lands that when they were given the offer by the Codrington Trust to purchase their spot of land, they were never told they had the option to use the National Housing Corporation lawyer that would cost them only $10, or a lawyer of their own.

They complained they paid the money directly to the Trust and they were yet to receive their title deeds, with some of them waiting as long as a decade. Some residents also complained that they paid more than they should have, based on the laws governing freehold and tenantry lands.

Some of the concerned tenants occupy land in College Savannah, Blades Hill, Consett Bay and areas around the Lodge School.

Under the 1980 Tenantry Freehold Purchase Act, tenants who were renting tenantry lots for at least five years prior had the opportunity to purchase. Eligible tenants could purchase spots at 10 cents per square foot.

The Agricultural Holdings (Option to Purchase) Act of 1983, also gave tenants of agricultural lands, who were renting spots five years prior, the right to purchase their lots but at a negotiated price.

(MM)