REGION 10 officials are calling on the relevant authorities to resolve outstanding community boundary issues.Most noticeable of these are the communities of River View, located on the bank of the Essequibo River, and Moblissa, located on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
According to the Toshao, or village leader of River View, Elvis Williams, the previous government “without merit and logical explanation drew a demarcation line on the community’s map.”
As a result, he said that the area that is largely unoccupied is what is considered River View, whereas the area where the people actually live, farm, and carry out business activities, is no longer considered River View.
The 1,440 residents are fearful that their ancestral land will be taken away from them after decades of occupancy.
What is more, the village does not have a legal title to their land.
“We have been occupying lands for decades; our ancestors have occupied this land,” exclaimed the Toshao at a meeting held with the Regional Chairman Renis Morian during his last visit to the community. The Toshao revealed that the land that is now considered River View is occupied by only one family and the majority of the land is used for farming, hunting and primarily logging.
The regional chairman was shown two maps of the community, one of which was deemed the original which included all the land the community claims.
The second map shows the division which the village claimed occurred under the PPP government.
The residents are fearful that strangers can legally claim the land if they are granted permission. “Our main concern is that since these lands are not titled, persons from out of River View can show up with titles for these lands on which the residents resided since the establishment of the community.
“I would like the relevant authorities to give us back these lands, because it is from here we started living, working, fishing, farming, hunting and doing everything.
“And that ‘line’ is very troubling, because you are removing us from our homes,” the Toshao stressed.
These concerns have heightened since the residents observed several loggers on land no longer identified as River View. With logging being the main economic activity, the residents are claiming that “bread is being taken out their mouths” and since they are considered alien residents they cannot stop the situation.
The residents of Moblissa are also bemoaning the long time it is taking to resolve their land issue.
The community, which is located seven miles away from Linden, is said to be in Region Four’s territory, while another part is said to be in Region 10.
This mix up, according to resident Denise Cornelius, is stymieing progress as they don’t know whom to turn to for needed help.
“When we come to Region 10 for help, they would tell we that we can’t get help here and that we must go to Region Four,” she said.
Regional Chairman Renis Morian posited that on numerous occasions they have opted to assist Moblissa, especially in the area of edFcation but have been advised that it is not in the remit of Region 10 to do so. The residents of both River’s View and Moblissa are calling on the government of Guyana to intervene to bring an end to this issue of boundary demarcation.