THE Berbice Bar Association welcomes the advertisement in the newspapers to fill the now vacant position of Registrar of Lands. This is the first positive step that the administration has taken in years with regard to the Land Registry. The Bar Association is in agreement that an Attorney-at-Law should be appointed to fill the position of Registrar of Lands as this is in keeping with the provisions of the Land Registry Act.
Over the years, the Land Registry has been a source of considerable frustration to members of the Bar Association and the general public. Routine transactions and transfer of titles that should be completed in a matter of days are delayed for years. Despite numerous complaints to Ms Juliet Sattaur, the Registrar of Lands, and her superiors there has been no improvement. Ms Juliet Sattaur, instead of dealing with the complaints in good faith made them personal and always shifted the blame for her inefficiency to other persons and believed that sympathy would absolve her.
Members of the Bar Association have now begun instituting mandamus proceedings against the Registrar to compel her to pass titles. The Registrar has not defended any of the actions against her but has instead quickly passed the titles in the respective matters. The Bar Association is still awaiting the outcome of the investigations into fraudulent and corrupt transactions committed at the Berbice Land Registry by Michael Seepersaud (Ms Sattaur’s former assistant) over two years ago.