Turning his attention to the issue of non-Belonger land-holding licenses during the recent budget debate, Wheatley said there’s something about the process that he does not particularly like.

“Some persons hide land when they are selling, so persons don’t know these lands are being sold,” Wheatley stated.

He said that there are times when published contact numbers for land sales are not reachable and other times where persons are told that the lands have been sold already when the interested buyers call.

“We have to give our locals a fighting chance. We’re going to make that process even more transparent by creating a register, a publicly accessible register for all lands under those licenses,” he stated.

He added that once locals can purchase those lands, they will be allowed to do so.

“No more hiding, no more trickery, no more speculating,” Wheatley added.

Meanwhile, Wheatley said he was happy that the territory finally had a land distribution programme.

He said the programme — funded through the seven per cent tax on wired money transfers going out of the territory — is going to make land available all year round for locals who are interested in owning their own property.