Elizabeth Stair
In this interview, Elizabeth Stair, chief executive of the National Land Agency in Jamaica, provides an overview of the overhaul of government land management following the merger of four different land-related departments—Land Titles, Estate Management, Land Valuation, and Surveys and Mapping—that resulted in the formation of the agency. She outlines a consultation process that led to improvements in customer service, document rejection rates, and turnaround times. Stair credits the manifold improvements to the agency’s thorough reapplication and interview process for all positions, expanded training and computerization, and security enhancements. Operating units within the agency increased their goal setting and tracking by implementing three-year corporate and business plans that required the achievement of 80% of targets in order to qualify for staff bonuses. The use of the eLandjamaica program and related software slashed the time needed to register titles and the turnaround time for pre-checking surveys, one of the agency’s primary tasks.
At the time of this interview, Elizabeth Stair was chief executive officer of Jamaica’s National Land Agency. Before that, she served as the commissioner of the lands department as well as the land valuation department simultaneously. A fellow in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, she also was a member of other local and international professional groups. Stair earned her earned bachelor of science degree in estate management from the Polytechnic of the South Bank, in London.