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  • 6 weeks ago
The new Land and Legal Affairs Minister spoke with TV6 News on Monday about changes to the Cabinet that he says are not a reshuffle.

In Part one of the interview, the Minister sought to make it clear that shifting the Land portfolio to the Legal Affairs Ministry does not mean the possibility of a new form of taxation.
Transcript
00:00It's not a cabinet reshuffle, but there's a realignment of various scheduled items under the Gazette.
00:07The New Land and Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hussein is speaking with TV6 News on Monday
00:12following changes to the cabinet made by Prime Minister Kamala Pesad-Beseser,
00:17which were officially published on Saturday, which has led to speculation about what led to those changes.
00:23The Prime Minister had made suggestions to the cabinet and cabinet ministers
00:30for us to submit recommendations of ways we can have shifts or changes within the ministries
00:37so that we can ensure key deliverables, efficiency, effectiveness and cost-saving measures.
00:43So you're saying it was a realignment via consultation between ministers in the cabinet and the Prime Minister?
00:49The Prime Minister asked all of us for recommendations in terms of how can we readjust certain parts of ministries
00:56and so on to make it more effective.
00:58TV6 News saw to find out from Minister Hussein if there was a synergy between the portfolio of land
01:04and the portfolio of legal affairs where, for example, documentation is concerned.
01:09The Ministry of Agriculture through the Commission of State Lands would have been the custodian of the state assets of lands.
01:17Then you had the Ministry of Legal Affairs, the Retro-General's Department,
01:21that registers those in the deeds or certificates of title.
01:26And then you had the Ministry of Finance playing a very important role through the Valuation Division,
01:30which will assess what the values of the lands are that determines the lease price,
01:35that may determine, for example, state grants, the cost of what the lands will be and so on.
01:41And now a promise from the government of a streamlined process.
01:45So now what we have done through this realignment is place all of the land departments
01:51that affect land distribution and management in Trinidad and Tobago
01:54under one umbrella ministry now called the Ministry of Land and Legal Affairs.
01:59Given that, shortly after having won the 2025 general election,
02:04the new UNC-led government scrapped the property tax implemented by the former PNM administration,
02:09TV6 News saw the clarification from Minister Hussain about his new land portfolio.
02:16But would this be a precursor to some look at the issue of taxes on land and properties under this present administration?
02:25That does not arise.
02:27What we're doing based on this realignment is simply making land distribution and land tenure effective in this country.
02:33We have heard time and time again that persons have issues with getting state leases, state grants and so on.
02:40This is what this alignment is about, making it efficient.
02:44Minister Hussain said he spoke with the Prime Minister about the bureaucracy and red tape involved
02:49in his management of the distribution of, quote,
02:52200 leases in less than 100 days for ex-carony workers, end quote.
02:56And the Prime Minister, being a very good lawyer herself, and also a former Minister of Legal Affairs,
03:03really understood these issues, and I think that is what created this new realignment of these portfolios.
03:09It's about creating efficiency, so at this time those taxes don't arise.
03:14It's about getting land tenure to a place where it is satisfactory
03:18and persons can have that piece of title document that they can call security.
03:23Minister Hussain also spoke about other responsibilities he now has in the Cabinet.
03:28The shift of the portfolios, regularization of squatters, and the LSA
03:34now falls under the Ministry of Land and Legal Affairs.
03:36More about that in part two of our interview with the Minister of Land and Legal Affairs.
03:42Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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