PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, 06 December 2022: The TCI and UK Governments recently commissioned a joint independent review of the management of Crown Land in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Members of the public and a wide range of stakeholders were consulted by Attorney at law Mr R Donhue Gardiner, TCI Attorney with experience in land law and policy development in TCI, and Professor Simon Cooper PhD, an expert in Caribbean land law and registration systems.

The final report, published on 1^st December 2022 contains 146 joint recommendations, to improve the management of this resource and maximise its use for the benefit of all the people of TCI.  The recommendations cover a wide range of areas, including future allocations of crown land, existing conditional purchase leases and unauthorised occupation. It also covers improvements to the processes surrounding crown land in order to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and improve fairness of the distribution of land rights, and details proposed amendments to the Crown Land Ordinance.

Premier Misick and Lord Goldsmith, as UK Minister for the Overseas Territories, have agreed to accept the report’s recommendations, subject to affordability, phasing and legal considerations.

The Premier said “Our two countries share a commitment to a peaceful, prosperous, open, and cooperative access to crown land, while ensuring that it remains a sustainable and resilient resource for generations to come.  I welcome the joint review final report as it remains my governments vision to seek equitable access for the people of these islands.”

Lord Goldsmith said “I welcome this joint review and it’s set of practical and well-considered recommendations to improve the utility of crown land in TCI and generate a more efficient and transparent process. I applaud the Premier for raising his concern with the UK on behalf of TCI. I hope our partnership on this project, drawing on professional expertise, paves the way for future collaboration and is a symbol of our ongoing commitment to work in partnership with the TCI Government. The TCI Government has our full support as they move ahead to implementation and delivery of these reforms.”

Please click here to view the report.

The Government of the Turks and Caicos Island is pleased to announce the publication of the third edition of the new Crown Land Allocation Register, produced by the Crown Land Unit, a department of the Ministry of Environment and District Administration. The register sets out information in relation to Crown land that has been allocated by way of grant or lease to private individuals or corporations and can be accessed easily, and for free, over the internet.

Jon Llewellyn, the Crown Land Advisor to the Governor, said:

“As set out in the new Crown land policy, we have today published the fourth edition of the Crown Land Allocation Register. This edition continues to show how Crown land has been distributed in recent years and who the beneficiaries were. Once again, the raw data is also being published directly in spread sheet format to allow the public to analyse the information more easily.”

The Crown Land Unit is encouraging everyone to help with this process. If your name, or the name of your company, has been included in error in this register then, in the first instance, please let the Crown Land Unit know in writing in order that the error may be corrected.

Similarly, if you have not been included in the register but have been the recipient of Crown land, or if there is an error in the spelling of your name, please inform the Crown Land Unit in writing at the addresses shown below:

Crown Land Unit Government Square
Grand Turk
Turks and Caicos Islands

Crown Land Unit Palmco Building
Leeward Highway
Providenciales
Turks and Caicos Island

Electronic copies of the register are available free of charge from www.tcilandinfo.tc and clicking on the link on the home page. A download link for the raw data may be found on the Crown Land Unit page of the same website.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Crown Land Allocation Register formed part of the 1995 Crown Land Policy but was never published as anticipated in that policy.
2. The new 2011 Crown Land Policy re-affirmed the concept of an allocation register and committed the government to regularly publishing allocation information to improve transparency.
3. This is now the fourth edition of the Crown Land Allocation Register.
4. The data only spread sheet version allows members of the public to easily sort, order and interrogate the data as they see fit.
5. In the Crown Land Allocation Register there is a single record for each time a person or corporation obtained a lease or grant of Crown land.
6. Parcels transferred to multiple owners will therefore have an entry for each owner in relation to the same parcel. Someone who obtained a lease and then purchased their freehold may have two entries, one for the lease and one for the grant (or transfer) of Crown land
7. Owners of parcels may already have changed. Further information regarding individual registered parcels may be obtained from the Land Registry upon completion of an application form and payment of the requisite fee.
8. Prices or rents shown do not imply that actual payments were actually made as arrears may exist.