THE Guyana Lands and Surveys (GL&SC) on Wednesday announced that the plot of land identified for the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Secretariat can now be occupied by the said Council as a 50-year lease has been approved.

Durwin Humphrey, Manager of the Commission’s secretariat, speaking after a brief presentation made by his office at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Liliendaal, told reporters that the GL&SC has expedited the request of the NTC to have the land available.
“There has been a lease available for the longest while for the NTC,” he said when questioned by reporters. Humphrey said complaints by members of the NTC including its past Chairman, Joel Fredericks, may have been voiced due to a lack of knowledge of the processes involved. “This is why we encourage dialogue and communication rather than grandstanding. The lease is available; the NTC has requested a transport and according to the laws of Guyana, there are certain processes that are required to convert a lease to a transport. While we have completed the process of the lease which is fully within the ambit of the Commission, the process of the transport lies outside of the Commission,” the manager explained.

He noted that while the GL&SC is facilitating the process to ensure the NTC has the transport to the land, that process falls directly under the Deeds Registry. “There is nothing that is preventing the NTC from moving ahead with the occupation of that land because the lease is an indefeasible title. They can go, construct and proceed with whatever is required while the other parts are being processed,” Humphrey added while reminding that the lease is renewable once there is beneficial occupation of the land.

In response, Fredericks told reporters that it was only Wednesday morning that he was in communication with Michael Hutson, Manager-Land Administration on the matter. He said it was during that discourse that Hutson committed to having “the lease document presented to the NTC on Friday.” “I accepted that with the understanding that is the process that it would need to go through to have the absolute title – I am comfortable with that,” said the past president of the NTC.

He thanked President David Granger for assisting the NTC with not only securing the plot of land but for ensuring the process was fast-tracked. On Monday during the opening of the NTC Conference being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, Fredericks accused the head-of-state of making failed promises to the indigenous peoples of Guyana.

During his presentation, he noted that the NTC is yet to receive documentation from the authorities for the land. “I would like to say thanks to his Excellency President David Granger because in my opening remarks on Monday I did mention the issue with the document for the land. So this is good news,” declared Fredericks, who served as Chairman of the NTC for three years.

Meanwhile, when asked by the Guyana Chronicle how soon the NTC intends to begin the construction of its secretariat, Fredericks said it is awaiting a review of a proposal submitted through the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs to the Chinese government. In August 2017, President David Granger turned the sod for the construction of the NTC Secretariat at Sophia, which fulfilled a promise and demonstrated the administration’s commitment to ensuring good governance of indigenous peoples’ affairs. The Indigenous leaders, during the 2016 NTC conference, had requested a plot of land from the Government to construct its long-awaited Secretariat.