-aims to provide more efficient and modern service

THE Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) has undertaken a number of initiatives geared to make its services more efficient and stakeholder-friendly whilst at the same time generating revenue.GL&SC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Trevor Benn disclosed on Friday, during a press briefing at his Durban Backlands office, that based on the work done to date, indications are that if the GL&SC were not to receive in January all of the money it is owed, it would not, for example, be able to function for more than three months of the year.

One of the major projects it plans to introduce is a Lease/Rent Portfolio, through which the Commission aims to determine how many leases have been granted and how much income can be expected annually, to aid in efficient programme planning.

Another initiative is to increase the rates for land rent. Benn said: “We have not had rent increases…for the last 15 years; to be exact, since [2001], when the Commission came into being. So people are still paying very menial rates…

“For example, our maps which are in use at the moment were done back in the 1960s/1970s. To update those maps per region, it’s roughly US$1 million. So, at the current rates that we are charging — which, for example, for an agriculture lot is one hundred dollars ($100.00) per acre (and) in some areas, two hundred dollars ($200.00) per acre — we cannot service the Commission; we cannot bring the Commission to the 21st Century organisation that we really would like it to be.”

The GL&SC is the only agency authorised to approve and oversee surveys in the country, and this is another way in which it is generating income. Benn said that although the Commission still does most of its work manually, it is in the process of digitizing its records — a process that is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 — though it is undertaking same with a dearth of resources.

The GL&SC is currently working on a project that is funded through the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) and would help to provide the resources to speed-up its computerisation process, Benn said.

Meanwhile, the Commission is urging the public to desist from building structures on areas designated as Government reserves. “It is illegal to occupy Government or State property without [the] permission of the State agency responsible; in this case the [GL&SC]… For some reason, however, there has been a lapse, and people were allowed, wittingly or unwittingly, to occupy Government reserves. What we have found, though, is that it has become a real hindrance to the developmental works that the Government would like to pursue…. Therefore, the call that was made recently, one, is to remind people that it is illegal to do that; and secondly, to tell people that going forward, it will not be encouraged,” the Commissioner said.

While some persons living on the reserves have been served notices to vacate, the GL&SC is hampered from taking further action as some of them have been granted licence to occupy some portions of land.

“We’re saying to them that we’re not prepared to perpetually grant licence to them to be on the reserve. In fact, the licence is very clear that whenever government is ready for use of the reserve, they will have to vacate. So it is very clear to anyone who may have had a licence in the past… Some people have begun to believe that this is a right, and so without even getting approval from Lands and Surveys, they go on to the parapets, they go on to the reserves; and so we’re trying to discontinue that practice,” Benn explained.

Licences were issued on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, for example, for persons to occupy sections of the buffer zone, the road reserve; and in several locations in regions Two, Three and Six as well as on the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara, Benn said.

The Commissioner also made it clear that while the Town Councils and City Council may have granted licence for persons to occupy certain reserves, that practice is illegal. “As far as I am aware there is no relationship with those NDCs or the Town Councils that undertake such action; and as far as the State Land Act is concerned, that is illegal,” he said.

Benn also noted that the recently published advertisement in the press, warning persons against occupying the reserves, is not intended to excite the public, “as at the moment we are not thinking about removing anyone. If you’re there, the Government, I’m sure, will have an arrangement to deal with the present squatters at some future point; because at some point they will have to move, but that’s not our focus at the moment”.

Meanwhile, Benn recently returned from a meeting for Government signatories to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Nairobi, Kenya, where he reported on Guyana’s efforts to meet its obligations to the Convention. The GL&SC is the national focal point for Guyana. At that meeting, Guyana was asked to host the 2018 meeting, which will see representatives from at least 190 countries travelling here. These representatives will include technical experts from the environmental field, the sustainable land management field, and other areas.

The 2017 meeting will be held in China.

Guyana has also been asked to Chair the Regional body that supports the work of the UNCCD in the Region, Mr. Benn said. Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, is the political focal point for the UNCCD.