Dear Editor,

ON Wednesday, October 14, 2015, I received a series of telephones calls from residents of my village, informing me that a person was squatting and fencing the front of a government reserve which is next to the National Bank of Industry and Commerce (NBIC) at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.As far as I can remember, this person has been attempting to occupy this small piece of land since way back in 2007, and several letters had been published in the press opposing this squatting, since the Hindu community from Anna Regina and Cotton Field has been using this dam to plant and burn their holka.

A petition signed by thousands of residents from these two villages had been taken to the Office of the President for action to be taken.

I also remember that, when I was the acting mayor of the Anna Regina Town Council, this matter had come up at a statutory meeting, when this individual had applied to build a mall but the full council had denied his application, knowing it was a government reserve and the property of the council.

After I had resigned from the town council, this matter kept surfacing, and the individual made several other attempts to occupy this reserve, which is a thoroughfare designed by the then Lands and Surveys Department for maintenance of the sea defence, that in the event of a disaster and the walls should collapse overnight, mobilisation of machinery and equipment can get easy access.

I e-mailed the former president after learning that he was coming to meet with PPP party members at the Reliance branch office, and he agreed to meet with me to discuss the matter; but, for some reason or the other, he couldn’t come to meet with me. He sent the former Minister of Health, who was on his party trip, to meet with me and listen to my complaints. The villagers were alerted by me to come and raise their voices against this squatting.

The regional vice chairman arrived with the former minister at my house, and the villagers flocked him in the hallway and started to complain bitterly about the squatting on their holy site, which they have, for decades, been using to plant and burn their holka. The former minister then asked the vice chairman, being the chairman of the land selection committee, how approval could be given for a government reserve — which is a public ingress and egress -– to be used for squatting, and he told the minister that the committee has rescinded the approval after careful consideration and appeals from the residents of the adjoining villages.

We, the villagers, never knew that a lease for the reserve was being issued secretly by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission. The town clerk told me that she had seen the lease with this individual’s building application when it was sent in for the council’s recommendation. The application was referred to the CH&PA, where it was not approved or recommended, and it was returned to the council. I asked her if she was aware that this person was fencing the town council reserve. She told me she was not aware, but would inform the chairman of the IMC. She told me the NBIC had applied for the same spot to make a play park for children of the surrounding villages, so that in the evenings and on Sundays and holidays they can play and relax, the bank would do all the developmental works at its own expense, plus plant beautiful flowers.

The NBIC application was approved by the town council, she told me, but the political directorate had instructed her to cancel it, as the region had better use for that piece of land, which she did.

I had called the manager of the Lands and Surveys Department in 2007, when I heard that the Land Selection Committee had approved squatting on this thoroughfare. He told me that he had abstained from voting on the matter because he knew that it was against the law to approve squatting on a government thoroughfare.

Anyhow, days after the squatting had begun on the public thoroughfare, I decided to call the regional chairman and REO to inform them of what was taking place. Not one of them was available, one was looking at members of the public and the other was in Georgetown at a meeting.

I called the regional vice chairwoman and informed her of the development. She assured me that the man was wasting his time and money, since he could not get the land for his purposes. I took her word for granted. I reminded the town clerk that if she should look up the statutory minutes during my tenure, she would find that the matter was closed.

What amazed me in 2007 was that the Hindu community, priest and the residents of both Anna Regina and Cotton Field were then up in arms against the squatter, since it was the only place suitable in the village for them to plant and burn their holka.
Now, because of a new coalition government being in place, they are all silent on the matter, and want the government to look bad and corrupt in giving permission to the squatter to fence the thoroughfare leading to the sea defence.

An investigation needs to be conducted into the issuance of this lease. This person is a millionaire and can buy a large plot of land, or apply for any amount of land elsewhere.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan