Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew has reaffirmed that the principles of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party remain the driving force behind his government’s policies, particularly its ongoing commitment to expanding land ownership among citizens.
Addressing residents at the Land Regularisation Handover Ceremony in La Guerite on 16th October, 2025, Dr. Drew said the initiative reflects the Labour Party’s long-standing philosophy of empowerment through land ownership — a principle rooted in the movement’s founding struggle for justice and equality.
On 16th and 17th October, 131 citizens received Certificates of Title for lands they had occupied for generations, finally becoming official landowners through the government’s L.A.N.D. (Land Allocation, Normalisation and Distribution) Initiative.
“Our people in 1932, just maybe 100 years after slavery, were not living much better than when they were in slavery,” Dr. Drew told the gathering. “The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party decided that formula must change. People can truly be empowered when they become landowners. From the very inception, part of our Party’s objective was to take the land from those who colonised us and put it in the hands of those who lived and worked here.”
Dr. Drew noted that the current administration’s work builds upon the efforts of Labour leaders before him, including the late Sir Robert Bradshaw, who spearheaded the nationalisation of land after the 1952 elections, and Dr. Denzil Douglas, whose Freehold Village Land Policy in the 1990s gave villagers access to the lands they had occupied for generations.
“It’s these types of actions that guided our movement,” the Prime Minister said. “Bradshaw was driven by the principle of empowerment — the good that we can do. And in the 1990s, the Labour administration under Dr. Denzil Douglas ensured that villagers who lived on land for decades would finally own it. Today, we stand on that same foundation.”
He added that his government’s approach goes beyond symbolic gestures, ensuring that each land recipient receives a legally binding title prepared and processed by the state at no personal cost. “We didn’t give you a blank paper and send you from office to office,” he said. “We made sure that when you leave here, your documentation says clearly and legally that you are now landowners.”
The Prime Minister described the moment as both historic and deeply personal for the recipients, calling it a continuation of the Labour Party’s social and economic revolution. “This Labour administration must stand on the same principle and advance the cause of land ownership in St. Kitts and Nevis,” he said. “That is what true empowerment means.”
For many families, the handover marks the end of decades of uncertainty, granting them not only land ownership but also security, dignity, and the opportunity to build wealth for future generations.
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