Some Wales land leases in jeopardy

An occupation survey will today begin of lands at the former Wales Estate as Attorney General Anil Nandlall yesterday said the former head of the unit that had taken charge of sugar assets could not prove to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) the process used to dispose of thousands of acres.

But with several farmers and investors bemoaning the financial and other resources already expended on some of the properties leased, government is looking to create a body that will oversee the transformation of the former estate into an agricultural hub, thus creating jobs for at least 3,000 persons.

“The Wales Estates lands, like Ogle and like Peters Hall, were disposed of by leases without any process whatsoever. Colvin Health-London, (Head of the Special Purpose Unit),  was requested to submit in writing, a report detailing the process utilized for the disposal of lands by NICIL. He was unable to point to any process for the thousands of acres of lands that have been leased,” Nandlall told Stabroek News yesterday in an interview.

“So those lands were disposed of and written leases issued but no one can explain the procedure employed. In other words – how did the persons know that lands were available, what were the factors that were taken into account in determining to whom leases were going to be issued, as well as what acreage of land? Those questions need to be answered,” he added.

He said that the new Board of NICIL was advised by him to send notices rescinding those leases.

In a notice in Saturday’s Stabroek News, NICIL announced that in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Region Three council, it will be conducting an occupational survey of the lands owned by NICIL at Wales Estate from November 16 to November 20. “

“Once you are the holder of a lease, you are advised to make contact with NICIL’s team at Wales Estate between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm”, the notice said.

The government is focusing on land sales and leases orchestrated by NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU) which had taken charge of the assets of shuttered sugar estates. The SPU was headed by Heath-London. His services were recently terminated.

Nandlall said that last month he, the Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha and the Chief Executive Officer  of NICIL met with a number of persons who would have received notices of rescission.

It was revealed during that meeting by some of the persons who held leases that they had expended large sums and they felt it was unfair that they be punished for errors of the SPU.

To this end, a decision was made to undertake the occupational survey to ascertain which lands were developed, the state of development and overall what should be done.

“Some of the persons complained that they had already expended monies on the lands and they have begun occupation. It was decided that NICIL will conduct an occupational survey to determine who are in occupation of the lands and the extent of the occupation,” Nandlall explained.

Further, he added, “Government’s intention is to create a statutory body corporate, appoint a board and vest the lands in that corporation. That board will then be responsible for addressing the issue of those lands. That is to say that the Board will establish a transparent process and invite expressions of interest in the area of agriculture and the lands will be leased to persons and companies based upon that process.”

He said that government’s priority remains to ensure that the lands are leased to persons who will beneficially occupy them, create jobs, and contribute generally to the economy of Region 3 and by extension the country.

Some priority will be given to former workers of Wales and they will be advised to form themselves into coop societies.

“It is expected that thousands of jobs will be created and the agriculture sector will be boosted,” the Attorney General said.

This was echoed by Mustapha who told this newspaper that government’s intention is to see the former estate lands transformed into an agricultural hub which will serve not only this country but the Caribbean region’s food needs.