A total of 74 families have so far been granted 99-year leases for land they have been occupying for up to 40 years on the Adelphi Estate in north Tobago. A further 20 are to be distributed shortly by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), which will bring the total number of leases to 94.
A statement from the THA yesterday said of the 74 distributed to date, 22 families received their leases last week at the Mason Hall Secondary School during the THA executive council "Reporting to the Districts" programme. The legal fees and registration of the 99-year leases are being paid for by the THA which purchased the 49-acre estate in 2008 for an estimated $13 million.
A year later, the estate was surveyed at the expense of the THA to prepare boundaries and cadastral sheets in preparation of leases to the occupants. The THA said it later provided the families with letters of comfort which they could have used to transact business deals.
Speaking at the meeting in the Scarborough/Calder Hall district, area representative and Chief Secretary Orville London assured those who did not yet receive their leases that their turn would come.
