MR. SAIEED KHAN, Chairman of the Eccles/Ramsburg (EBD) Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), is maintaining that businessman Reeaz Khan has not been given permission to misuse the area and government reserve for the purposes for which he has been accused.
Responding to a Kaieteur News article

published in the Wednesday edition that indicated Reeaz Khan was authorised and permitted to erect a tent and spread sand in an area in Eccles, the chairman said that during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Reeaz Khan was using up government reserve to do his own feeding programme without proper permission from the relevant authorities. He explained that it all began two Sundays ago when several truckloads of sand were delivered on the road, and a 20 x 30 tent was then placed at the location, which also impinged the premises of another popular business spot; and that tent has been a feature event every Sunday.
Reeaz Khan has claimed that he was given permission to do what he was doing by President Ramotar himself, the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), and from Freedom House; but the NDC chairman explained that only the NDC can give permission to undertake in the NDC jurisdiction the activities that Reeaz Khan was engaged in.
NDC Chairman Khan told businessman Reeaz Khan that he had been permitted to have the tent up for only a few hours before taking it down; and his activities were not supposed to disrupt others.
The chairman said that, for the past six years, Khan has been doing the feeding programme at his residence in Eccles during the Ramadan period, and the businessman has revealed plans to build a shed on the government reserve without permission from the NDC.
The chairman said he informed the businessman via legal notice that he must remove the tent and sand at the end of the Ramadan season, or the council would be forced to act accordingly. The chairman also explained that the businessman had not approached the NDC for anything, but had rather asked persons with whom he is associated to seek verbal permission from the NDC; which is unacceptable, since the businessman must understand that there are rules and principles which must be followed at all times to ensure the place is in order.
The chairman said that if a resident is requesting from the NDC permission to undertake something like this, that request must, at all times, be put in writing so as to validate its authenticity.