THE seventh commissioner of the Lands Commission of Inquiry, Paulette Henry,was sworn-in on Thursday by President David Granger at State House.
Henry, who was unavoidably absent when the President swore in the Chairman of the Commission,Reverend George Chuck-A-Sang and the other Commissioners earlier in the month, vowed to faithfully execute her functions without favour, affection or ill-will and to honour, uphold and preserve the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
The other Commissioners are David James, Carol Khan-James, Professor Rudolph James, Lennox Caleb and Berlinda Persaud.

The COI was established by the Head of State to examine and make recommendations to resolve issues and uncertainties surrounding the individual, joint or communal ownership of lands, along with Amerindian land titling issues.
During the initial swearing-in ceremony for the Chairman and Commissioners, President Granger had attributed to Guyana’s massive land space while pointing out that Guyana and Suriname have 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.

The President had also urged the Commission to execute its duties with due diligence, pointing out that land represents economic stability and cultural, material and even spiritual identity for some people.
“They have almost a sacred duty not only to the Indians and the Africans, for generations to come, to ensure that we go forward into the future without disputing what God has given us bountifully; the land of this great country. You have taken an oath. You have sworn to execute your functions without fear or favour, affection or ill will and I pray to God you will do that, not for yourselves,not for the Government,(but)for our children and the people of this country,” President Granger said.

He had acknowledged that the land rights issues are far from settled but expressed the hope that the Commission will pave the way for many of these issues to be resolved.
Residential lands, agricultural lands and lands used to extract natural resources have been for too 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. It is anticipated that the Commission will provide the required recommendations to effect the necessary changes.