| Forum still objects to AG over Crown land | | Print | |
| Written by Richard Green/richard@fptci.com | |||
| Thursday, 15 March 2012 13:57 | |||
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Taking control of Crown land from direct control of elected ministers won’t prevent corruption, and it’s an insult to honest politicians and Turks and Caicos Islanders, Consultative Forum members said again in unison at their March 13 meeting. The song was the same in January 2011, when the forum first told Crown land advisor Jon Llewellyn that they saw no reason to put Crown land administration under the attorney general, who could be as likely to be corrupt as politicians. Many other objections that forum members have made since then have not been incorporated into the bills they were considering this week. They sent the attorney general and Llewellyn away with a wide variety of requested changes. Several forum members said that the old Crown land process would have worked if it had been followed and enforced by honest politicians. The former elected government gave huge discounts on Crown land worth millions of dollars to individuals and developers, making little money for government and leaving only 23 percent of all developable land for islanders to seek ownership of today. The new Crown land process would put the Crown Land Unit, the Land Registry, the Survey and Mapping Department, and the Valuation Office all under the attorney general. Land transfers would still have to be approved by elected ministers, and the governor must accept their decision unless otherwise ordered by the U.K. secretary of state, or if the transfer violates governance principals. A Crown Land Advisory Council would help make decisions on and changes in land policy, a suggestion that some forum members considered unnecessary. The Crown Land Policy was approved by the governor and published in October but requires laws to be passed to put it into effect. It is one of eight milestones required by the U.K. for return to elected government. Click HERE to read the Crown Land Policy
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