THA takes stand on land-grabbing

In fact, Government has been asked to “reinstitute licensing requirements for sale of land to foreigners in Tobago with immediate effect.” In a letter, to that effect, sent to Prime Minister Patrick Manning, THA Chief Secretary Orville London charged that foreigners were abusing their entitlements under the Act, to an extent that now warrants Cabinet to reinstate licensing arrangements regarding foreign land ownership.

“The Foreign Investment Act (1990) makes provision in Clause 6 (2) for any area of Trinidad and Tobago to be placed under license and we seek your assistance to effect this change in the best interest of the island’s populace,” London’s letter to PM Manning stated.

The FIA 1990 — which replaced the more stringent Alien Land Holdings Act — was introduced by the then ANR Robinson-led National Alliance for Recon-struction (NAR) Government administration and was the subject of much criticism over the years.

London said the THA documented evidence of “speculative land deals” undertaken by foreigners — who are entitled to purchase up to five acres of land without a license under the FIA.

The letter continued: “It has become increasingly evident that foreigners are involved in land-grabbing activities that fuel the price of land well beyond that which Tobago residents can afford.”

London noted this resulted in middle-income earners such as public servants and teachers now “applying in droves” for low cost homes from the THA housing projects. Consequently, he told the PM, “this has brought additional pressures on the THA to fulfill its housing mandate, as the social safety net has now widened to include middle-income earners.”

The Chief Secretary made the Assembly’s position known, reporting on contents of his letter to Manning in a statement to the House at Thursday’s regular monthly plenary sitting. London said the Executive Council noted the speculative activities of foreigners have intensified within the last five years.

He said practices utilised in this regard include “exploiting loopholes in the Act to purchase from locals and resell to other foreigners within short periods of three to six months; delaying construction for up to three years in some instances, having acquired land for residential purposes while they arrange sales at a premium to other foreigners who have the means to build; exploiting the Immigration Act which allows foreigners who marry locals to enjoy the same rights as citizens, and through ‘business marriages’ these individuals purchase large tracts of land well beyond the one-acre limit and (then) subdivide them into smaller plots and resell abroad.”

Stressing these practices were counter to the intent and spirit of the FIA and had contributed to societal and environmental concerns, London reported that real estate prices in the rural north end of the island, and moreso in the south western area, had shot up by more than 250 percent in the last four years. Also, he noted, foreigners had constructed buildings that were obtained under “residential” requirements and were marketing these properties as holiday villas, with negligible or no benefits to the Revenue Office and Tobago as a whole. London said he had documented information which indicated there were some 479 transactions, involving more than six percent of the available lands for building development in Tobago, between enactment of the FIA in 1990 and December 2005. He asserted, however, that the actual number of transactions could be much more since many transactions between foreigners went unrecorded. “I have also received complaints that the situation has reached the point where locals have to compete with foreigners, even for middle class homes in the heart of traditional communities,” Lon-don told the PM. “The THA seeks to curtail these speculative activities that have been practiced over the last decade, and seeks your commitment to reinstitute licensing.