Commissioners of the recently constituted Lands Commission of Inquiry (CoI) are urging citizens to “join the conversation about land in Guyana and to share in the life and work of the Lands Commission of Inquiry.”
In a statement to the media on Thursday, the commission which was appointed by President David Granger in March, said that by its Terms of Reference (TOR), it is required to resolve all issues and uncertainties surrounding the individual, joint or communal ownership of lands acquired by freed Africans in Guyana, on the claims of Amerindian land-titling in Guyana and on any other matters relating to land-titling here.
The commission, which is located at the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission Upper Hadfield Street, D’ Urban Backlands, Georgetown, said in conducting its work it is bound by the Laws of Guyana as well as international obligations to implement and provide for sustainable land use.

“It must be emphasised that the designated mandate of this commission is solely to make recommendations,” the statement noted, while adding that the commission will actively engage with the Guyanese public through periodic updates and press releases.
Notices will be issued as to the holding of public hearings and opportunities for direct involvement of stakeholders in its work. “The Lands Commission of Inquiry, as constituted by the President, is significant. This CoI is a defining moment in Guyana’s history and presents an opportunity for open engagement and public conversation on the wide-ranging issues of land in Guyana.”
Additionally, the commission said it is aware that land concerns and affects all citizens and as such, its goal is to listen and understand the issues relating to land here and examine same in a comprehensive and holistic manner. “Our commissioners, who bring an array of technical, academic, managerial, research, legal skills and competencies relevant to the issue of land in Guyana, commenced work with a period of rigorous research which is ongoing and will entail field-study to fully examine issues as mandated,” the statement to the media noted.
In the coming weeks, the commission intends to engage with communities to foster dialogue so as to be guided historically, legally and geographically. The information received will be used to add to the work done in the past geared at defining land and related issues since independence. The commission has until November 1 to submit its recommendations to the President.

Meanwhile, The National Toshaos’ Council (NTC) has condemned the establishment of the CoI as a means of addressing land issues relative to Indigenous Peoples here and demanded that the government recalls the CoI and establish two separate CoIs to address land issues here, a demand to which the government does not intend to yield. In fact, government, through Minister of State Joseph Harmon,has made it clear that issues relative to land will be examined in totality, as those issues touch and concern each Guyanese.
“The toshaos’ statement is a matter of concern, because we believe that all citizens of this country have a right to have their issues addressed at whatever levels it needs to be addressed. At the level of land, the authority for the issue of any land title is the President or any person so authorised by the President to issue titles,” said Harmon last week at his weekly post-cabinet press briefing.

He gave the assurance that “The issue of Amerindian land titles would be dealt with by the commission and is not mixed up with the ancestral lands, and they would deal with Amerindian land-title issues. So I believe we need to have some more engagements with the parties so that they understand this more carefully.”
The minister of state said no attempt is being made by the coalition Government to dilute any aspect of the Amerindian Act of 2006 or replace it with any intervention. “Everywhere I go, people are talking about land and it is up to us to ensure that we have an equitable way of addressing these issues,” he said, adding that the CoI was the proper way to do it and represented a fulfilling of a commitment made by the President at the National Toshaos Conference in 2016.

“We will find a way to move forward in the interest of all,” he stated as the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs also rejected outright the statements made by the NTC. The NTC which is made up of Toshaos of all indigenous communities, said they were never consulted on the establishment of the commission and as such will not respect the decisions of such a body. The council, a body comprising all Toshaos of Guyana and a representative body of the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana, said they were never consulted on the formation of such a body and cannot, with any degree of sanity nor confidence, respect such a body and will refuse to cooperate with it.