October 10-11, 2019
Hilton Trinidad and Conference Center
Title: Photogrammetric applications for natural resource management in Caribbean SIDS – A case study in Guyana
Authors: Dexter DAVIS, Sasha ADDO, Nikita MORRIS and Amrish MAHABIR, Trinidad and Tobago
The management of natural resources in many Caribbean SIDS has long been a difficult task for both the public and private sector. With several limitations including public perceptions and attitudes, along with human, technical and economic resource constraints, the situation continues to pose problems for the effective management and potential monetisation of key assets. Poor mining practices and illegal quarrying for example, pose social, financial, environmental and legal threats to the state, private owners as well as to the overall the sustainability of Caribbean SIDS. Though the problem continues to exist, an assessment of the root causes and the extent of damage needs to be identified. This then provides critical information that can be used for the development of monitoring and management strategies that are cost effective, timely, technically sound and suitable in hostile environments where there may be physical safety concerns.
This paper presents a case study conducted in Guyana, where, through the use of digital photogrammetric techniques employing UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) some of these concerns have been directly addressed. From the methodology used and results obtained, the aerial survey met the technical requirements for data capture to effectively monitor mining activities. The results were analysed and information derived to provide insight for the development of monitoring and management policies for these natural resources through aerial surveys.
Keywords: UAV, digital photogrammetry, natural resource management
Title: Adoption of automated valuation models in Malawi - valuers' perception
Authors: Desmond Namanja NAMANGALE and Esther CHIMALIZENI, Malawi
The valuation profession is historically known for being more traditional and extensively uses traditional methods of valuation. Despite this, in the recent past, there have been strides to incorporate automated valuation methods (AVMs) in the valuation profession especially for rating, mortgages and revaluation purposes. This new approach, however, attracted controversy when it was piloted in one of the cities in Malawi. This study sought to explore property valuers’ perceptions on the adoption of AVM in rating valuation against the use of traditional methods of valuation. The researchers used a descriptive study design with qualitative data collection and analysis methods. Semi-structured interview guides were used to collect data on valuers' perceptions on AVMs. A total of 20 in-depth interviews were conducted with professional valuers. The valuers were asked how they perceive the AVM approach to rating valuation compared to the use of traditional methods of valuation in terms of its accuracy, reliability and easiness. Data was manually analysed using content analysis. The general perception of the valuers towards AVMs was mixed. One school of thought gave AVMs the benefit of doubt for future incorporation into the profession if modified to suit the local environment. On the other hand, AVMs were considered as posing a threat to the valuation profession since anyone may be deemed qualified to carry out property valuations. However, the valuers are of the perception that the models will never replace traditional methods of valuation, hence suggestions to incorporate AVMs as a supplement to traditional methods of valuation so that the former is used as a verification and auditing tool for the latter.
Keywords: automated valuation models, valuation profession, valuation perceptions, traditional valuation methods
Title: Applicability of radiocarbon dating in the valuation of cultural properties: a study of Ikoro in South-East Nigeria
Authors: Chikezie OKORONKWO, Fidelis. I. EMOH and Joseph U. OGBUEFI, Nigeria
Radiocarbon dating is a scientific procedure used to date organic matter depending on the radioactive decay of carbon-14 (14C) an unstable isotope of carbon. The value of sacred places and objects, historical and cultural sites and properties may not be established by a measure of degree of exchange between a hypothetical buyer and a hypothetical seller, which of course is the expression of market value. This is because the value of such objects and sites is intrinsic and deeply buried within the psychology of persons who desire and indeed benefit from their existence.
This study explored the application of radiocarbon dating in the valuation of cultural properties with focus on Ikoro in South East Nigeria. The objectives include among others; to examine the ages of some ikoros of Igbo people of South East Nigeria; to examine the relationship between age and value of cultural property; to investigate the application of radiocarbon dating in the process of valuation of ikoro; to correlate the outcome of the study and evolve a model for the valuation of cultural properties. A pilot study was conducted in which ten (10) cultural objects from different parts of Igbo land were selected as samples. These were made of wood from the “ikoro” family and subjected to observations in four phases 1-4. A small scale interview was administered to test run the choice of cultural objects chosen. Field survey, controlled experiment and process tracking methods were adopted. Communities and local government areas were purposively selected with each being represented by either an elder of the community chosen by consensus among members of the community, the “Chief priest” who presides over the relics and culture of the community and shrine/deity or “Akajiofor” who nonetheless is usually the oldest male representing the community. Taro Yamane Formula was adopted in determining the sample size of 400. The study primarily employed the use of Chi Square, F-test and Regression Analysis. These were carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. A Correlation Co-efficient (r) of 0.79028 and Coefficient of Determination (r2) of 0.62455 established that value of cultural properties such as ikoro increases with age. The value is not of exchange but intrinsic phenomenon buried within the philosophy and world view of the people owning the cultural property. It was also revealed that the application of the variability model that captures all the parameters and ingredients of value is the first step in the valuation process. Above 500 years however, the value of the property will no longer increase with age but remain static or begin to diminish. The study further revealed the anomalous nature of values of cultural objects as they increase with age; albeit the increase is neither uniform nor steady. The study concluded that radiocarbon dating can be incorporated in the valuation of cultural properties. The process incorporates age and time in the determination of intrinsic values of cultural properties to the people.
Keywords: Valuation, cultural properties, radiocarbon dating, Ikoro, Igobo people
Title: Trinidad and Tobago Property Business Registration System
Authors: Mark GRIFFIN, Karen BRIDGEWATER and Nicole MOONAN, Trinidad and Tobago; and Aurélie MILLEDROGUES, France
The Property Business Registration System (PBRS) is a project of the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs (MAGLA) in Trinidad and Tobago to develop a system that will provide a highly available secure application to govern, capture and manage all aspects of the real and personal property registration process including the Common Law and Real Property Act systems and ancillary documents.
PBRS is financed under the Strengthened Information Management at the Registrar General’s Department (SIMRGD) project through an Inter-American Development Bank loan. The SIMRGD project is aligned with the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) goals and with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Partnerships for the Goals.
MAGLA engaged a consortium led by IGN FI (and including Geofit and the University of the West Indies) to execute the PBRS project over an ambitious schedule of 17 months. This paper shows Trinidad and Tobago in the context of other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean through what could be described as registering property ‘good practice’ captured in the World Bank’s flagship publication Doing Business report and gives an overview of the PBRS project. The paper also draws attention to the need for a unique property identifier to enable critical linkages between registry and cadastral data and to other land management data and systems to facilitate cross-government decision-making.
Keywords: Trinidad, Tobago, Registering Property, Spatial
Title: The need for 3D cadastres in SIDs and the cadastral surveyor’s response
Authors: Charisse GRIFFITH-CHARLES, Trinidad and Tobago
3D cadastres have reached an advanced stage in theory, if not in practice, in developed countries. There is an even greater need for 3D cadastres in developing countries such as SIDs as space is at a premium and equitable access to land is a human rights requirement.
This paper explores the current state of the theories on 3D cadastres and the challenges facing its practical implementation, including land administration processes, the Land Administration Domain Model infrastructure, visualisation methods, and conversion from current datasets. The need and the opportunities presented by 3D cadastres in light of the particular issues faced by Caribbean SIDs, such as tenure informality, state capacity and resource gaps, and climate change impacts are examined. The cadastral surveyor’s response and his/her role in the data acquisition, and maintenance of the 3D cadastre is then presented in the context of a Trinidad and Tobago case study. There is now a requirement to revisit cadastral land surveying rules and regulations to determine the datums and precisions to be adopted in the 3D case.
It is proposed from this case study, that the vertical datum be referenced to the WGS 84 with relaxed cadastral precisions, that engineering as-built drawings be used as a data source for boundary information, and that legal decisions be arrived at that would establish the location of the boundary in respect to the physical structure.
Title: State-owned hotels as a development option for Trinidad & Tobago : lessons for small island developing states
Authors: Afra RAYMOND, Trinidad and Tobago
The Tourism sector is of significance in our Region with large tourism plant playing a major role in our micro-states. These resorts occupy prime lands, often waterfront, and consume substantial public resources – water, infrastructure and other tax/financial concessions, environmental capital.
The conventional terms of the discourse on Resort Development gives prominence to employment, capital spend, room numbers, local content in terms of supplies and labour, origin of visitors and so on. The actual commercial rationale for these projects is seldom, if ever, discussed. Many governments hold as secret the terms of those arrangements under the grounds of commercial confidentiality. It is proposed that the 'Underlying Commercial Arrangements' are in fact decisive in the establishment and operation of these large-scale resorts. The dominant model by which these resorts are created is based on the capital investment of hoteliers (site acquisition, design, finance, fitting & furniture) being incentivised via tax/duty/work permit concessions made by the host governments.
In Trinidad and Tobago two regimes exist in a fundamental tension - firstly, the Tourism Development Act of 2000 which created seven-year tax holidays for investors in tourism facilities and secondly, the three largest hotels in the country are State-owned – Hilton Trinidad, Magdalena Grand (formerly Tobago Hilton) and Hyatt Regency. The first regime has had little, if any, impact in terms of new private capital deployed in this sector, while the second is the subject of this submission.
The Trinidad and Tobago model is one in which the State has invested all the capital as Public Money and those facilities are operated by the hotelier under a Management Agreement. These State-owned hotels are large-scale Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). The terms of those Management Agreements are available only in the case of the Hilton Trinidad and no proper performance details are available for any of the three hotels.
This paper will set out the design and implementation of my research program to establish the 'Underlying Commercial Arrangements' at these large-scale PPPs. That program was conducted in collaboration with Disclosure Today, via the Freedom of Information Act. The findings are provisional, given the strong objections from the relevant Public Authorities so those very limited replies are supplemented by references to Hansard and Parliamentary Reports. Finally, those provisional findings are used to propose a framework for the Tobago Sandals development or further large-scale hotel development in our country and region.
Title: Intermediary instruments for land tenure formalisation in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean
Authors: Sunil LALLOO, Trinidad and Tobago
In the administration and management of land, policy makers often face problems in deciding best practice models to govern the use of land such that it delivers the required output of wider development goals. These goals vary significantly depending on the particular needs of society, but moreover, on political mandates. They may centre on economic output, in which land is expected to achieve maximum investment yields; or they may focus on the other end of the spectrum, which is to fulfil a social need. Pro-poor models favour the latter, notwithstanding the fact that capital investment and opportunity is the very thing that brings poor people out of poverty. Access to secure land rights is therefore a pivotal issue in meeting development goals.
A key issue in securing land rights in Caribbean SIDS is the existence of informal tenure. There are two main types in the Caribbean – namely squatting and family land. This research focuses on the latter which a sub-category of customary land tenure, one of the oldest systems of land rights still in existence today. Much in the same way that communal land rights are common in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa; family land is found abundantly in the Caribbean and was first documented by Edith Clarke in the 1950’s. Regionally, the tenure form originated from the post emancipation era, where the ex-slaves pooled their resources together in order to afford land that was deliberately highly priced. Such land remained in the possession of the family which they shared jointly.
Privatisation is often viewed as the best way to address the formalisation of customary tenures. It is the process of asserting rights over land to clarify and formalise the interests in such land at the individual level. It involves an adjudication process that works with simplified models of titling and registration, aimed at individual land holdings. It is believed that once all land is registered under existing legislation, the problems of informality will be no more, or for the very least, significantly diminished. There are however, pertinent issues to be addressed when considering this option which include: dissolution of family land tenure relations; fragmentation of rights into unusable shares; fragmentation of parcels into minimum plot sizes; land easily sold to outsiders; reversion to informal transactions making land register inaccurate. This research follows from earlier work done by the author in intermediary methods that can be used in the formalisation process for customary lands in the Caribbean. It looks at experiences in three Caribbean Islands – St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Tobago and proposes alternative methods to regularise customary land holdings.
Keywords: Customary tenure; land regularisation; land tenure
Title: The legal and social tenure domain model
Authors: Glendon G. NEWSOME, Jamaica; and Charisse GRIFFITH-CHARLES, Trinidad and Tobago
The International Standards Organization’s certified ISO 19152: Geographic Information – Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) and the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM), are well documented and known for their roles in the modelling of Land Records Management Systems in the formal and informal sectors, respectively. The extent to which some Caribbean Territories’ Land Records are: fragmented; limited in accuracy; analogue and digital; titles and deeds; fixed and general boundaries; systematic and sporadic in adjudication; centralised and decentralised, leads to conflicts as well as ineffective land management, which stymies economic development, and leads to high cost and inaccuracy in land registration – duplication in registration of land; inappropriate development approval; weak land administration and management; and poor disaster risk reduction and management.
Using the Case Study approach, with Jamaica as the subject, the research demonstrates how the LADM and the STDM may be incorporated using generic Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) technology, to support the solution to the problem of inefficient land records management in developing countries, a first for a Caribbean state. The outcome of the research is a strategic fit-for-purpose implementation of a hybrid of the LADM and STDM named the Legal and Social Tenure Domain Model (LSTDM).
It has the potential to establish links and relationships between data created by various departments and agencies of the state, which currently, proves cumbersome to access, due to the physical distribution of the data and the multiple formats and models of the data structure.
With the introduction of Electronic Titling at the National Land Agency, Jamaica, being on the horizon, the LSTDM is expected to be integral in the efficient and expedient delivery of registered titles and an up-to-date Cadastre, as well as a comprehensive view of all available land information, straddling institutional borders. Concomitantly, there will be reduced, if not zero occurrence of duplicate registration and therefore substantially fewer conflicts over land.
Keywords: Land Records Management System, Cadastral System, Land Registration, Land Administration Domain Model, Free Libre Open Source Software
ISTT Caribbean Land Conference 2019
