Stewart Subsidiary Helps Belize Empower Land Owners
June 16, 2011
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of Belize, in collaboration with Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), have awarded Stewart Global Solutions, a division of PropertyInfo Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE: STC), the Land Management Program III–Expansion of the Land Information System contract. This contract is part of the third phase of Belize’s National Land Management Program (LMP), intended to develop a national land policy framework focusing on both private and public sector development through secure land tenure.
Stewart began work in Belize in 2006, when the company was awarded a contract for the development and implementation of a land information system. Stewart’s proprietary land information management solution, landfolio, has automated and integrated Belize’s public land records and cadastral maps under a single software platform. This solution provides the government with a comprehensive property management toolkit to oversee and administer its property records.
“Stewart Global Solutions has been a trusted consultant for the Government of Belize in working through a period of institutional and technical reforms seeking to improve both the implementation of land policy and the efficiency and effectiveness of our land administration,” noted Beverly Castillo, chief executive officer of Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. “Implementing landfolio has greatly helped our land administration in a number of ways, including decreasing the amount of time it takes to register property, offering the ability to register property in six government district offices throughout the country rather than just one location at our capital, and providing the capacity to access to all registration documents through the government’s electronic database.”
Land Management Program III – Expansion of the Land Information System will be implemented within a 15-month period and involves an expanded implementation of Stewart’s landfolio solution to the departments of Planning, National Estates, Valuation and Inland Revenue/Cashiering.
“Stewart Global Solutions is proud to continue its work in Belize,” said Jill Urban-Karr, executive vice president of Stewart Global Solutions. “Because much of the challenge of implementing a land information management system is not only technical, but human resources-related, Stewart is developing mechanisms to ensure project sustainability for the Government of Belize and their technical staff once the Stewart consultancy is completed.”
Building on the company's core belief that social stability and increased prosperity are created when citizens own their homes, land and/or buildings, with clear, readily transferable title to their property, Stewart provides a wide range of solutions, including landfolio, consulting services and property information management that promote individual private land ownership.
“We have been providing land information modernization solutions for more than 30 years within the U.S. and 20 years internationally,” said Stewart Morris, Jr., president and co-CEO of Stewart Information Services Corp. “Stewart offers a full suite of products and services created to protect land rights and improve the security, transparency, accessibility, accuracy and reliability of land information. We are, in fact, the only company with the resources needed to help countries at any stage of development, from land policy to land registration and cadastre solutions all the way through to guaranteeing the validity of property ownership and mortgages.”
Through its offices in Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and the U.S., Stewart offers the following core products and services:
- Consultation on land law and privatization
- Development of land policy and regulatory frameworks
- Improving the conveyancing process
- Instilling comfort and security for mortgage lenders to facilitate investments
- Issuing title insurance and related products
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].