PRESIDENT David Granger on Friday formally established the Lands Commission of Inquiry (CoI), swearing in six commissioners to the board to address issues relating to the allocation, titling and management of Guyana’s private and public lands on Friday.
Chairman of the CoI, Reverend George Osborne, Peter Chuck-A-Sang and Commissioners David James, Carol Khan-James, Professor Rudolph James, Lennox Caleb and Berlinda Persaud were sworn in, in accordance with Section 2, Chapter 19 of the Commission of Inquires Act within the laws of Guyana, and each vowed before President Granger and several other government ministers and dignitaries to “faithfully execute the offices of Commissioner… without favor, affection or ill-will (and to) honour, uphold and preserve the constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.”
President David Granger at the State House ceremony on Friday congratulated the commissioners on their decision to be part of the vital inquiry and encouraged them to fulfil the purposes of the Commission, keeping their sworn vows in the best interest of the country and future generations.
He pointed out that Guyana has massive land space, with this country and Suriname having a collective land mass that is greater than Germany or Japan. Geographical data show that the size of Guyana (83000.4 square miles) and Suriname (63,251.6 square miles) give a combined total of 146252 square miles, as compared to Germany with 137,983 square miles or Japan, the world’s third largest economy, being 145,932 square miles.
With the work of the Commission, Guyanese will be able able to rely on more effective use of land to push economic prosperity, with indigenous communities and descendants of freed Africans being especially considered in the land investigations. “It’s all about land…Land is life,” President Granger emphasised and explained that indigenous communities depend upon land for dwelling, hunting, agriculture and other purposes and that they have a spiritual connection to their lands, which explain their connection to the geographical spaces in Guyana’s hinterland.
He said that with the exodus of the African peoples through the triangular slave trade, Africans lived on colonial plantations but after they were emancipated, even as some still voluntarily served on plantations they pooled and purchased lands to build houses, churches, schools and for agricultural development among other purposes. The hunger for land continued when other ethnic groups were brought to Guyana, with even the Chinese establishing land settlement at Hopetown, Upper Demerara and East Indians through an economic drive, also acquired lands.
“Today we recognise as a government, that the issue of land is far from settled and we decided to take a decision to ensure that our people can live in this land, Guyana, without worrying about the future…” President Granger stated.
Even as government is convinced that there is enough land to satisfy all the needs of the Guyanese people and generations to come, still land is a source of pain and controversy, President Granger highlighted.
Residential lands, agricultural lands and lands used to extract natural resources have been for long, in controversy with a yet undefined boundary established between mining and indigenous lands in hinterland areas, while small miners too are constantly being ousted from lands belonging to medium and large scale miners. “Land is needed to satisfy human needs for food, shelter, recreation, sports… Regrettably, land is a source for pain and controversy… The establishment of this lands Commission is meant to settle these controversies… We need not fight each other for lands. We will investigate their claims and we will respond…” President Granger said.
He pointed out that the Amerindian Lands Commission was established to advance the process of demarcation of indigenous lands, but instead conflicts and rebellion arose, even though the Catholic and Anglican churches appeared before that commission and surrendered lands they occupied. “The process for giving the Amerindians their lands will continue unimpeded,” President Granger said, as he charged the commission that they not only have a duty to persons of Amerindians and African heritages in Guyana but to all Guyanese for generations to come.
To the commissioners, who vowed to hold to their sworn responsibilities in fairness and without favour, the President said, “I hope to God that you will do that, not for yourselves, not for the government, but for the children of this country.”
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon earlier in the week said the Lands Commission “will be tasked with examining and making recommendations to resolve all the issues and uncertainties surrounding the individual, joint or communicable ownership of lands acquired by free Africans, and claims of Amerindian land titling and other matters relative to land titling.” “It is hoped that all of the issues that have been unresolved over all these years, that we will be able to bring closure to them and resolve these issues in relation to land,” Minister Harmon stated.
