Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 02, 2018 (SKNIS): The implementation of a dedicated Land Administration Information System (LAIS) in St. Kitts and Nevis was highly praised and strongly supported by the Honourable Vincent Byron, Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs and Communications, who signed an agreement with the Republic of China (Taiwan) to execute a digitized system for matters pertaining to lands.
Minister Byron hailed the initiative as a step in the right direction because it will afford persons the opportunity to transact business in a more efficient and effective manner.
… “The process of converting paper into a digital format, computer-based that can be stored not just on servers on our island but elsewhere in the cloud that can give us a certain security in terms of the storage of our critical information is what the signing of this agreement is about,” said Minister Byron. “It will allow us to take not just the documents themselves but the plans and store them in a computer that can be accessed, searched online. We can have our practitioners, the various stakeholders access them from in their offices, but it is the next step to make the whole question of lands more efficient.”
Attorney General Byron said that such efficiencies will continue to improve St. Kitts and Nevis’ standing in the ease of doing business. He added that the cost of the LAIS project is USD $2, 046, 475. ROC (Taiwan) will contribute $1, 496, 475, while the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis will contribute $550,000.
Resident Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to St. Kitts and Nevis, His Excellency George Gow-Wei Chiou, noted that having such a system in place will be extremely important to the Federation.
“The development of a computerized land registry administration is important to accommodate the upcoming need for government’s infrastructure and private sector investments,” said the ambassador. “The new computerized land registry systems will ensure the security of data transmission and storage.
His Excellency Chiou praised Attorney General Byron for the high value he has placed on Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the Federation and noted that his government will continue in its endeavours to ensure that ICT in St. Kitts and Nevis continues to be expanded.
Registrar of Lands, Dawn Myers, echoed her delight of being a part of the signing ceremony which signals a step forward for the Federation.
“The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding brings us one step closer to the implementation of a computerized system for the Land Registry and a step closer to reaching the goal of improving the ranking of St. Kitts and Nevis by the World Bank’s Ease of doing Business Index, when it relates to the registering of property in St. Kitts,” she said. “The establishment of a dedicated Land Registry in St. Kitts with a branch in Nevis is a historic event. In times past legal transactions relating to registering property were being dealt with in the High Court Registry along with all of the other legal matters for example Probate, Deed Poll, criminal matters and divorce.”
This is the second Information Communication and Technology (ICT) cooperation project introduced between St. Kitts and Nevis and the Republic of China (Taiwan), the first being the Hospital Information System (HIS) project, which was launched in 2017.