fp Turks and Caicos

Four companies — Cedar Palms Ltd., Logwood Hotel Development Co. Ltd., Palm Ridge Ltd. and The Amoire Ltd. — were granted 265 acres, or about one fourth of all Crown land on West Caicos. All the grants were made on Oct. 19 and Nov. 8, 2007. None of the grants indicated how much was paid for the property, but that information is not always listed in the register.

Earlier versions of the register showed that only 161 acres had been granted of the total 1,108 acres available on the island, most of it to 14 individuals in parcels ranging in size from 6 acres to 10 acres.

The Crown land policy in effect at the time allowed Belongers to receive up to 10 acres each and receive a discount of up to 50 percent off the purchase price. For large developments two or more Belongers were allowed to combine their 10-acre entitlements to enable Belonger participation in the project.

The latest register made public Nov. 15 shows:

The largest recipient, Cedar Palms Ltd., received 91.83 acres in nine 10-acre grants on Oct. 19, 2007.

Logwood Hotel Development Co. Ltd. — developer of Molasses Reef — received 62.13 acres in five grants of parcels between 3 and 29 acres on Nov. 8, 2007.

Palm Ridge Ltd. received 56.97 acres in seven grants of parcels between 6 and 10 acres on Oct. 19, 2007.

The Amoire Ltd. received 50.16 acres in five grants of 10 acres each.

The Molasses Reef development was announced in January 2005 with much fanfare and an anticipated opening in 2007, but that was pushed back.

Then the project screeched to a halt in 2008 when its financial backer, the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, went bankrupt. The project is still on hold.

The Crown Land Allocation Register and accompanying maps are available on the Turks and Caicos Islands Land Info website (www.tcilandinfo.tc), a joint effort from the Survey & Mapping, Land Registry, Land Valuation and Planning Departments.

“The additional data in Edition 3 includes information that has been compiled from partial historic records and work has already begun on producing a fourth edition which will hopefully be published before the New Year,” said Jon Llewellyn, the Crown Land advisor to the governor. Following suggestions during public meetings on the new Crown land policy, the register is now available in both PDF and spreadsheet formats, Llewellyn said.

The register is a work in progress and is updated as new information is available. Because of inconsistent record keeping in the past, many Crown land allocations may not be included the register.

Owners of parcels listed in the register may already have changed. Information on current ownership is available from the Land Registry upon application and payment of a fee.