Just into its second year, the three-year, $5 million Land Use Policy and Administration Programme (LUPAP) appears to be moving closer to a fully harmonized, modern land use policy in The Bahamas.
Prime Minister Perry Christie on Monday identified the three components of the LUPAP: Land Administration Modernization, Land Information Management, and National Land Issues and Policy Guidelines.
The LUPAP is co-funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to the tune of $3.5 million, with The Bahamas government kicking in the remaining $1.5 million.
The prime minister presided over the signing of a $2.3 million contract between the government and International Land Systems (ILS) out of Silver Springs, MD, as part of the LUPAP.
Iwan Sewberath Misser, the IDB representative, noted that the geodetic control, parcel management (PIMS) and the preparation of national land policy guidelines are critical aspects of the LUPAP.
“This Land Use Policy and Administration Project is of significant importance for The Bahamas because it will provide the policy, planning and administrative tools to achieve a sustainable use and promote a rational development of land and coastal resources, which is vital to avoid detrimental impact on the economy,” Mr. Misser said.
“This project, which will improve the efficiency of land administration and land information systems, will undoubtedly result in an improved use of land resources in your country.”
Geodesy is the study of the earth’s shape. The ILS project is expected to modernize the geodetic infrastructure of The Bahamas so that, for example, map coordinates give precise locations on the land.
ILS president Peter Rabley explained the importance of a modernized geodetic infrastructure.
“When we talk about a geodetic framework, it’s simply how we go about establishing where we put our maps on the earth’s surface,” Mr. Rabley explained.
“This becomes very important [when for example] with today’s technology we have these handheld GPS receivers, [using which] you walk around and you get a coordinate for where you are. If you don’t have an up to date framework, the GPS doesn’t tell you correctly where on the old Bahamian maps you are.
“So we have to harmonize the old Bahamian mapping system with the latest technology, so that when people come here [and try to] use GPS we will line up exactly with where we’re supposed to be.”
According to the prime minister, the project is expected to modernize and expand the land administration services provided by the government land agencies responsible for cadastral surveying, allocation and management of Crown Land, the recording of property rights and the assessment of properties for taxation purposes.
A cadastral survey is a public map of the value, extent and ownership of land as a basis of taxation.
The LUPAP is also expected to provide geographic information for land use planning and monitoring of land development, strengthen the technical capacity of the government in collecting, analyzing and dissemination of land information, and prepare policy options and guidelines for key national issues.
Mr. Misser of the IDB noted that the LUPAP is particularly relevant to The Bahamas, as are the IDB’s Coastal Zone Management Programme, and preparation of a practical regional development plan for Inagua.
“All [of these programmes are] aimed at the introduction and strengthening of physical planning systems,” he said.
Registrar General Shane Miller expected that the LUPAP project would be complete around the same time that the computerization project ongoing in the Registrar General’s department.
“Things will come together in such a way where the work we’re doing at the registry now with our e-initiative, as well as what’s going on in the project, will coordinate at a given point where when the LUPAP project is completed, [our work] will be on its way to completion,” Mr. Miller said.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
