Prime Minister Perry Christie defended his government’s move to award Moore’s Island residents their long-awaited land titles.

After years of waiting for a resolution, Moore’s Island residents were assured by the government in Parliament yesterday that they will soon be awarded deeds to their own land.

Montague Member of Parlaiment (MP) Richard Lightbourne said while this is good news, he is unsettled in the fact that the news comes right in time for the general election.

Mr. Christie noted that the representative for Moore’s Island is a member of the Free National Movement (FNM).

Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett read the resolution in the Lower Chamber yesterday to convey some 464.4 acres of land in Moore’s Island, Abaco from the treasurer to the Ministry of Housing.

“We know it took a long time for all of the surveying to take place in that island community to get us to this point; but I want the people of Moore’s Island to rest assured conveyances partitioning the land has already begun,” Minister Dorsett said.

“And so that once the land is vested in me, the Ministry of Housing and the Department of Housing will move very quickly to ensure that titles to the various respective plots are regularized,” he assured.

South Abaco FNM MP Edison Key praised the government for making progress in the matter.

After Minister Dorsett’s contribution, Mr. Key noted that he has advocated for this move on behalf of his constituents for a long time.

“I am so pleased today to see that governments have come and gone and this has been one of the main cries of the people of Moore’s Island – title for their property that they have lived on,” said Mr. Key.

“These people are unable to go to the bank to borrow money to build a home. So they built a home. By the time they put down the foundation it might take several years to complete their home on property that they don’t really own,” he said.

“So this is a move that I’m sure the people of Moore’s Island are pleased with today,” Mr. Key added.