Attorney says nothing unusual about Holness land transaction 'while visiting Jamaica'

By: Admin

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Attorney-at-law Patrick Bailey says there was nothing unusual when JamaicaLabour Party Leader Andrew Holness wrote on a land transfer document that the transaction happened while he was "on a visit to Jamaica". 

People's National Party campaign director Dr Peter Phillips made the revelation last night at a party meeting in Mandeville, Manchester.

READ: Holness signed house document while 'visiting' Jamaica - Phillips

Documents from the National Land Agency (NLA) show that Bailey was the attorney who witnessed the notation at the time the property was being transferred from the previous owner to a St Lucia-based company named Admat Incorporated.

The NLA documents show that the notation was made in 2011 when Holness was a member of the Jamaican Government.

But speaking to The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre today, Bailey said section 152 of the Registration of Titles Act requires a notary public or an attorney to sign as a witness when an overseas company is registering a title here.

He says the Titles Office would then send a requisition asking where the transaction was witnessed.

Bailey says the Titles Office gives different variations on how this can be captured, including the use of the words "witnessed in Jamaica" or "witnessed while on a visit to Jamaica".

He says it was the attorney for the previous owners of Holness' property who made the notation on the NLA documents related to the transfer.