A GOOD Hope, East Coast Demerara family wants the relevant authorities to intervene and end a long-standing dispute over a plot of land they have planted on for years. Jameer Mohammed and his son Roy Mohamed, say the dispute arose after a prominent auto dealer claimed the land, fenced it and built a house on the plot.
The Mohameds claimed they are the rightful owners of the land, which was last owned by a Mohamed Hamid.
The land being disputed is the northern strip of land running parallel with the Railway Road and extending eastward for approximately 1,272 feet from the Good Hope Sideline trench.
The Mohameds allege that the auto-dealer “broke down the fence and destroy the crops” and proceeded to construct the house, an act they described as “rich people taking advantage of the poor people.”
Complaints were made to the Central Housing and Planning Authority and an official there, the Mohameds allege, told them to demolish the house set up by the auto-dealer; they decided against this course of action.
The Mohameds claim too that another company took possession of another part of the land in question, during the time of the previous administration and though several complaints were made to that administration, the matter was not resolved.
In a letter to President Granger dated 5th April, 2016, the older Mohammed noted that he has had prior meetings with Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Basil Williams, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of State Joseph Harmon on the issue.
The younger Mohamed showed this newspaper documents which he claimed show the family has used the land for agricultural purposes since 1944.
He also provided this newspaper with receipts showing that the family has been paying rates for the land, which was part of a scheme that was scrapped.
He also showed a letter from a senior official of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission to the former Legal Affairs Minister, which proffered a “considered opinion” that the “heirs of Mohamed” be given the land.
The family is requesting that the relevant authorities heed their pleas and help them resolve the matter.