AG says gov’t can scrap orders to acquire Carmichael Street land

-Private Sector urges gov’t to be cautious in use of law

October 15, 2016 Source

Noting that government can scrap the controversial Orders made to compulsorily acquire two plots of Carmichael Street land, Attorney General Basil Williams yesterday said all that has happened so far is that a legal process has been triggered.

While there have been few public statements on the Orders, sources say the government has been made aware of significant disquiet over the resort to compulsory acquisition of private property and the process won’t go ahead. Yesterday, the Private Sector Commission issued a statement warning the government to proceed cautiously in employing the Act as it could have a chilling effect on investor confidence.

Following a report in the October 3rd edition of Stabroek News on one of the Orders for acquisition which appeared in the Official Gazette of September 24, Williams has come under pressure to explain government’s position on what had appeared to be a done deal.

During a press conference at the Attorney General’s Chambers yesterday, he said that compulsory acquisition is the last resort but “the only way you could know is by the triggering of the section under the Act and once that is done you have coverage. In other words, after the process has gone through the scoping mission, complete their work and submit the report to the Minister along with the plan, the Minister could then consider whether he wishes these options and one is to talk about voluntary negotiations to the purchase of the land.”

Despite this explanation, observers have noted that the Order of September 24th has a specific legal effect as it declares the proposed construction of government buildings on the identified land as a public work.

That plot of land belongs to Guyana’s High Commissioner to Canada Clarissa Riehl and her husband, Thurston and sources close to her say she was completely taken aback by the move to acquire the land and was prepared to go to court over it. The other plot is owned by the Beharry Group of Companies. Both had declined offers made by the previous PPP/C government to acquire the lands for the extension of the Ministry of Legal Affairs/Attorney General’s Chambers and the matter was not pursued. Riehl’s land is located at the corner with Middle Street while the Beharry’s plot is immediately north from Middle Street following by the Ministry building.

Williams told reporters that if anyone goes and talks prices and discusses the purchasing of lands without the protection of Orders under the Acquisition of Land for Public Purposes Act, “You gotta be suspicious of them ….and is only an estate agent can go and ask people about their land.”

Asked what happens at this point and whether he is still seeking to negotiate for the purchase of the plots, Williams said, “We will determine what our position is. As it is right now under the Act, an Order was issued to start certain procedures and those procedures would involve finding out whether the owners of the land would voluntarily purchase the land or not.”

He said it cannot be known whether the plots will be sold or not until “the procedure is followed under the Act and we are nowhere close to that stage.”

Not a done deal

Told that his statement in the National Assembly in February that $40M has been budgeted for the purchase of the lands made it seem that it was a done deal, Williams responded that the reporter has a right to her opinion. “$20M was supposed to be the market value for (each of) the two plots of lands. That’s all it means. Anyone who knows the law wouldn’t come to a conclusion that you have just did. That it’s a done deal,” he said.

According to Williams, he had previously indicated that he inherited the ministry. “I don’t know anything about running a ministry. I am a lawyer… I inherited public officers in the ministry, that’s what happened. They presented these things to me in the budget. It’s like this year’s budget. I don’t know what’s in the budget,” he said.

He said that he did not even know that money was allocated to “put a building on the lot.” It is unclear which of the two plots he was referring to.

Williams said that in the National Assembly the question was raised as to how a building was going to be constructed on land that was not yet owned. Asked how much money was set aside for the construction of the building, he said $85M, which he added was inadequate according to the finance personnel.

Asked if he would still go ahead and start the process knowing that one plot belongs to Riehl, he said that she is a very close comrade of the PNCR. “We walk the roads in protest over the last government. We walk in the trenches. We have the healthiest of respect for Mrs. Riehl. She is a soldier,” he noted.

Asked what happens if both land owners decide not to negotiate, he said that the Stabroek News has been saying a lot about the matter. “I thought they had knowledge about the law. If you are asking me about what the Act says as I just said to you… the Act provides a framework if government wishes to acquire property for public purposes that you don’t just go and acquire the property willy-nilly or arbitrary,” he said.

Williams, at the beginning of the press conference, provided the media with a list of all the orders made under the Act to compulsorily acquire lands from 1992 to 2015. A total of 30 such orders were listed.

After a perusal of the list, Williams was told that there can be an argument made that the end benefits of those orders were justifiable as they were made to facilitate the construction of a university, roads, sea defences and a vendors’ market, among other things, which would benefit a large number of persons. He was asked whether in the context of what those lands were used for if the acquisition of the two lots for the extension of the ministry building was as important. In response, he said “You acquire lands for public purposes. If you were to apply for the extension (of the building) it would be a public work.”

He emphasised that the Order in the Gazette empowers the Commissioner of Lands and his officers to go in and scope the land. “That is all that is there. No order has been made on the land,” he said, while adding that it is for this reason that government is surprised that newspapers have been carrying “erroneous” reports which could bring the AG into disrepute. He then demanded that the media apologise for the error made. He specifically made reference to reports in Stabroek News of Cabinet’s decision to rescind the Orders as well as to seek an explanation from him on them.

“Our government would expect that the newspapers who carried those erroneous accounts, those devious accounts, would do the proper thing because it can’t be right… It’s a whole heap of untruth,” he said firmly. The government has, however, not issued a single statement on the Orders or the reports about them.

Former AG Anil Nandlall, in a letter to the press, had opposed government’s decision, while pointing out that there were other properties that could be compulsorily acquired. For him, the order on Riehl’s lot, in particular, was not necessary.

Both former president Donald Ramotar and Nandlall had denied that their government started the process while in office and they have since called on Williams to produce the evidence to substantiate his allegations.

Ramotar has explained that his government had approached both owners, as it sought to expand the Attorney General’s Chambers, but they both informed that they were not selling and therefore he was advised to seek alternative lands.

Caution

Meanwhile, in a statement issued yesterday, the Private Sector Commission said it has taken note of the government’s intention to exercise its right under the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes Act to acquire private lands for public use.

“Such moves by any government are always viewed with a high level of skepticism and reservation by investors globally. Whilst such acts may be legal, they dampen investor confidence as they deem their right to own property to be insecure and their investments to be under threat,” it said.

“The Private Sector Commission calls on the Government of Guyana to be very cautious when invoking their right to acquire private property for public use and to ensure that adequate transparency, thought, public consultations and justifications are made to avoid unnecessary controversy when such decisions are taken. The Private Sector Commission wishes to highlight to the President and the Cabinet that the current transaction being pursued has caused many owners of private property to be in a state of trepidation.  The Government needs to clarify their policy and position on this matter,” it added.