–raise grouse with MMA at Land CoI

A GROUP of cattle ranchers from Abary, West Coast Berbice, have raised with the Land Commission of Inquiry (CoI) a land matter that has been plaguing them for years.
The matter at reference has to do with a dispute between them and the Mahaica-Mahaicony Abary/Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA).
Hemraj Kissoon, Managing-Director and Chair of the Abary Cattle Ranch and Company Limited is claiming that the MMA has unjustly taken away over 2000 acres of land from them, without giving any rhyme or reason.

He feels they have been hard done by the MMA, as they have been occupying that land some 108 years now, ever since the organisation was incorporated as a limited liability company back in 1909.
He explained to the Commission that the group was established for the sole purpose of fattening cattle, which had been moved to Berbice from the Rupununi way back then. He said that at the moment, the group has in excess of 3000 heads of cattle, and that they have titling for the said land under dispute.

He explained that when the government of the day had wanted to build a canal and conservancy on the land, they gave the group a plan of the area saying that any time any problems arose, producing said document would help settle the matter.
He told the Commission that what he was saying was well documented, and that both the group and the MMA would have copies of the agreement in their possession. Kissoon said when, in 1989, the MMA had wanted the land to be surveyed, that the group had paid over monies, $3M to be exact, to the Authority to have the survey done.

He’s alleging that it was after an irrigation canal was built on the land between 2015 and 2016, that the MMA took the property away from the group. The said lands, he said, lie east of the canal.
Kissoon said the group has since written to the MMA about the situation, but has to date received no response from them. He said that previously, the group had applied to the MMA to provide them with water for agricultural purposes, but even that request was denied.

And just recently, he said, someone seemed to be grazing cattle on the disputed land, but he cannot say whether it was being done with the MMA’s permission.
He said that the 7,784 acres of land being occupied by himself and members of the group is used solely for cattle-rearing purposes. He said they did try planting rice before, but it didn’t work out.

“What I want to say is that people are taking advantage of us,” Kissson said, adding that since occupying the land, the group has constructed over 30 miles of canals and dams.
Noting that there’s a deliberate plot afoot to undermine the group, Kissoon told the Commission that because no work is being done in certain areas to prevent flooding, this year alone the group had lost over 200 heads of cattle, which is a common occurrence twice a year.

He told the Commission also that President Donald Ramotar and Attorney-General Anil Nandlall had, while they were in office, advised that the group take legal action.
Kissoon then expressed appreciation to President David Granger for convening the CoI, as the group had felt disadvantaged. “That’s why I must thank the President for this what he is doing today. Whether I lose or not, it doesn’t matter, but this should be done for the whole country,” he said.

CoI Chairman, Reverend George Chuck-a-Sang, reminded Kissoon of the CoI’s mandate, noting that its Terms of Reference is aimed at examining the systems where titling may be wrong or “some haziness “ where titling may be handled.
“We listened to you; we‘ll examine what you have said, and we are documenting it, too, so that in the final analysis, we will look though it and make some recommendations to the President on these matters,” Chuck-a-Sang said.