Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira has admitted.

And until a registry is in place, Bermuda remains "a little bit in the Dark Ages,'' said Dr. Terceira.

A land registry is a central public record of who owns what land. Any liens, mortgages, easements, restrictions, or other encumbrances affecting the land are registered against the title.

Bermuda has no such registry. Deeds to land are held by individual owners and often kept in lawyers' offices or safety deposit boxes ... and sometimes under mattresses.

Currently there is no sure and easy way to find out who owns land, and whether they hold a clear title.

Bermuda's lawyers have opposed establishment of a land registry because of fears "it would eliminate the conveyance department,'' Dr. Terceira said.

But they are warming to the idea, he added. In other countries where a land registry has been introduced, lawyers "still do as well financially,'' because while many could do the title search themselves, most like the comfort and security of having a lawyer do it.

Dr. Terceira travelled to New Brunswick and the Cayman Islands to study their land registry systems before striking an advisory committee in 1991 to report to Government.

But the committee, which included lawyers, real estate agents, surveyors, and civil servants, was disbanded last August before its work was completed. The idea was shelved temporarily for economic reasons, Dr. Terceira said.

"It was put on hold when we were making cuts in the budget,'' the Minister told The Royal Gazette . "It would be a great help really, once it's done.

"We all had to reduce our expenditure whichever way we could, and that expense was not an essential one at this point in time.'' In addition to other start-up costs, a lawyer would have to be hired by the Attorney General's chambers to spend about two years on the necessary legislation, he said.

That work has been set back one to two years and it will likely be five to six years before Bermuda joins most developed countries in having a land registry in place, he said.

Mr. Ted Gauntlett, a surveyor who represented the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce on the committee, said the Chamber was disappointed by the delay, but understood the economic choices Government faced.

"You can't always have what you want, when you want it,'' Mr. Gauntlett said.

Lawyer Mr. Peter Smith, who sat on the advisory committee, said most Bermuda lawyers are not yet in favour, but "they're not as cold as they were.'' Once a land registry is up and operating, there will be as many people doing land transfers, but more of them will work in Government, Mr. Smith said.

"It will affect the law firms, but as far as the benefit to Bermuda as a whole, I think it will be a good thing once it's in and operated properly.'' However, land reform laws are required first, because "Bermuda land law is where the English land law was in 1880,'' Mr. Smith said.

First, the law must be codified, he said. Secondly, it must address successive interests -- in which land is tied up for years through successive inheritances -- and multiple interests, in which land is owned in small shares by a large number of parties.

The system Bermuda adopts will likely be similar to those put in place in the Barbados and Cayman Islands, he said.