Cadastre Netherlands takes on cadastral functions in the Caribbean Netherlands

The responsibility for the land registers in the BES is­lands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) was shifted from the islands’ administrations to the Cadastre (Land Reg­istry) in the Netherlands and the public registers on Janu­ary 1, 2021. This means that all cadastral tasks for the Ca­ribbean Netherlands are now incorporated into a single organisation.

The Cadastre keeps a re­cord of who has what rights in relation to all property ­land and buildings — in the Netherlands and the Carib­bean Netherlands. Since 2011, the Cadastre in the Netherlands has been in­volved in digitising and auto­mating the islands’ cadastres through digitising the public registers as well as setting up the cadastral registry.

Assigning responsibility for the islands’ cadastral func­tions to Cadastre Nether­lands on January 1, 2021, allows further improvements and creates more possibili­ties for further modernisa­tion.

“We want to continue de­veloping the digitisation that we have established on the islands over the previous years. This will also lead to improved quality of available data. We will be taking a con­siderable number of steps towards this in the coming pe­riod,” states Frank TieroIff, chairman of the Cadastre’s board of management.

The BES Land Registry Act is to create a more uni­form procedure and regis­try, which means clearer in­formation for users such as property owners, notaries, real estate agents, banks and project developers.

By further professionalis­ing cadastral functions in the Caribbean Netherlands there will be better transpar­ency in the property market, which could provide an extra boost for the economies of Bonaire, Statia and Saba.

“Through the BES Land Registry Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations will ensure that cadastres in the Caribbean Netherlands will become part of Cadastre Netherlands on January 1, 2021. Being part of a larger organisation can result in more possibili­ties for modernisation and digitisation, which will mean providing better services to users such as owners, nota­ries, estate agents, banks and project developers,” Min­ister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Kajsa 0llongren explains.

Cadastre Netherlands con­siders it important that the cadastral functions in Bo­naire, Saba and Statia contin­ue to operate in the way that these are used to. The phas­ing out of the current cadas­tral functions on the islands will not have any consequenc­es for the services provided. The public is still able to go directly to the local Cadastre organisation, which oversees the implementation of cadas­tral operations and which will be integrated as a section of Cadastre Netherlands.

The Daily Herald.