Gravel Hill residents given rights to sugar cane lands
Descendants of former sugar workers are set to receive tenure on the old Hampden sugar lands in Trelawny.
Approximately 157 former agricultural workers and their descendants at the Gravel Hill land settlement were given letters of possession by the Government last Tuesday. Agriculture Minister Floyd Green said the letter will now enable the beneficiaries to build on the lands free of hassle and any worry that they could be removed at any time.
“Today marks a significant milestone in the history of our agricultural landscape, as we hand over letters of possession to the children and grandchildren of former agriculture workers who diligently toiled on sugar cane lands decades ago,” he said.
The minister, who was speaking at a handover ceremony in Wakefield in the parish, said “this ceremony symbolises, not only a legal transaction, but a profound acknowledgement of the invaluable contribution of those individuals to our contemporary agricultural sector”.
The letters, prepared by the Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings, represent the first step towards receiving a land title and will enable citizens to acquire several benefits and rights that come with formal land ownership
Green said investigations conducted by the agriculture ministry revealed that persons, who were working on the Hampden Sugar Estate over 60 years ago, were given permission by the management to occupy the land.
“Therefore, they lived undisturbed, followed by their children, and their children’s children, who all enjoyed an undisrupted life, settling on these lands. What then is preventing this Government from formalising these persons? Today, the answer to that question is nothing, because this is the day we hand over their letters of possession,” Green said.