THA seeks Govt help to stop land grabbing

In a letter to Prime Minister Patrick Manning, THA Chief Secretary Orville London charged that foreigners were abusing their entitlements under the Act. He asked that Cabinet reinstate licensing arrangements regarding foreign land ownership in Tobago.

“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 told Manning.

The FIA 1990, which replaced the more stringent Alien Land Holdings Act, introduced by the then ANR Robinson-led National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) administration, has been the subject of much criticism over the years. London said the THA had 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.

“It has become increasingly evident that foreigners are involved in land grabbing activities that fuel the price of land well beyond the price that Tobago residents can afford,” said London who addded that this had resulted in middle-income earners “applying in droves” for low cost homes on THA housing projects. He saide 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 in a statement to the House at Thursday’s monthly plenary sitting of the THA.

London said the Executive Council had noted that the speculative activities of the 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 that these practices were counter to the intent and spirit of the FIA and had contributed to societal and environmental concerns, London said real estate prices in the rural north end of the island, as well as the south western area, shot up by more than 250 percent in the last four years.

He said foreigners had constructed buildings obtained under “residential” requirements and were marketing these properties as holiday villas, with negligible or no benefits to the Revenue Office and Tobago.

London said he had information on 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 noted, 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,” London said.