Dear Editor,

As regards the ‘land grabbing expose’ by the Opposition Leader, it is good that Mr. Jagdeo revealed what he did at his most recent press conference. Why? Because had he not done so, the Guyanese people would still be in the dark concerning what appears to be the harvesting of a bonanza by a favoured few. We the people should know about such things anyway. 

 

It is also good because had Jagdeo not done what he did, we would not have benefitted from the responses by Messrs. Benn, Ceres and Phillips.

Thanks to the expose, we now know what these men are purported to own and how they got what they now own.

Their responses are instructive for a host of reasons.

First, in respect to the hullabaloo from those affected, and other individuals in this matter, we should not overlook the contribution by the free press and social media. Had the free press not published the information provided by Mr. Jagdeo that would have been to the advantage of the government.

The free press took away that advantage from government by making the public aware of who’s who, and who allegedly got what in the ‘land giveaway’ controversy.

 

To get to the bottom of the controversy and to bring some balance to the debate while it rages, there are some fundamental questions that must be answered:

* Were Guyanese aware of the ownership of the huge swathes of land to the individuals named?

* Is it factual that the individuals named are the true beneficiaries of the huge swathes of land?

* Are the six individuals named employed at the government agencies and departments mentioned?

* Do the government agencies and departments named fall under the Ministry of the Presidency?

 

* Does President Granger have portfolio responsibility for the GL&S Commission and the Department of the Environment?

* Was the President informed/aware that staff members at his ministry had applied for and were granted huge swathes of land?

* Who legally owns the 80 acres of land identified at Bohemia?

* Are the explanations offered by Mr. Trevor Benn in relation to land for Ceres, Lowenfield, the unnamed MP, and Allen verifiable and acceptable?

* Who are the opposition members that approached Mr. Benn for help and were granted leases?

 

* Who are the former ministers of government and several high-ranking government officials who received lands prior to 2015?

*Is there a political connection between the Ministry of the Presidency and the beneficiaries of the “giveaways” named by Jagdeo?

* Can the “above market value” and payment of more for less land at Liliendal be quantified by Mr. Ceres in G$?

* Is the leasing fee $900,000 or $200,000 per year, per acre for the land at Liliendal owned by Ceres?

* Can the price for the size of land allocated to Mr. Ceres at Liliendal be compared to the price for land sold/leased to Movietown, Giftland or Texila University?

 

* Is it public knowledge that a deep water harbour was proposed for Dallawalla at Linden and a shore-based facility at Bohemia on the Berbice River?

* Did Mr. M. Bristol, Project Management Officer at the Ministry of the Presidency have access to confidential information about locations for major infrastructural projects in various regions of Guyana?

* How many of the 1,543 leases approved and disbursed by the GL&SC were approved in less than three months following the APNU+AFC’s assumption to office and immediately following passage of the NCM and to whom?

* In the interest of transparency and for the avoidance of ethnic bias, can the GL&SC publish a total breakdown of the 1,543 names, ethnic composition, acreage of land approved, their location, for what purpose, and the period of approvals?

All things being equal, Jagdeo’s revelations accentuated the intrinsic connections between persons employed at the Ministry of the Presidency and their relationship with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.

 

In the current political environment, coupled with the mode of governance by the APNU+AFC, with which every Guyanese is acquainted, it is not unreasonable to conclude that such a relationship is characterized by kith and kin values, which in practice, ought not to be underestimated.

Compare the massive allocations of state lands, to the meagre 0.3030 acres of land bought legally by the allottees at Pradoville 2 which SARA is currently fighting tooth and nail to re-possess from their rightful owners.

Is this not discriminatory? Isn’t there something ethnically and politically peculiar about the targets? And what is SARA’s on-going witch hunt based on?

In this connection, one is left to ponder the following statement by Mr Benn: “Public officials have a right to apply and be issued with leases for government land regardless of which government employee you are.”

The inferences and relevance of Mr. Benn’s statement to the Pradoville 2 matter now in court are as uncanny as they are duplicitous.

 

The storm that has arisen in government quarters over the Jagdeo disclosures, must have sent government propagandists scampering hither and thither to cut and paste answers, or ducking for cover, or simply hiding, as President Granger is wont to do whenever controversial issues of this nature surface.

Mr. Philips is a leading light in SARA, he chose to condemn Jagdeo’s expose of land allocated to him as ‘lies fueled by racism.’ But this is the same Philips who, having benefited from huge tracts of land granted to him on the one hand, is pushing SARA aggressively to repossess house lots at Pradoville 2 on the other.

I believe this is called double standards.

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee