Gov’t mulls offering lands
The aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Maria in the BVI
The aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Maria in the BVI

…to storm-hit Caribbean nationals

 

THE Government of Guyana has signaled its willingness to make lands available for Caribbean nationals whose countries have been ravaged by hurricanes in recent times.

Tropical Storm Harvey in August wreaked havoc in the Caribbean followed by Irma, which devastated the Caribbean island of Barbuda, in addition to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) among others. Hurricane Irma was followed by José, Katia, Lee, Maria and Norma, of varying intensities.

Speaking to reporters on the sideline of the just concluded 72nd Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA72) in New York, President David Granger said Guyana stands ready to assist. “Guyana has a very important role to play in all of this, particularly in the Caribbean. One, we are the largest CARICOM state and we have to consider our land space as being the hinterland of the Caribbean, we have to sit down and speak to other Caribbean states, to see how this gift, maybe, could be utilised to give the people in the Caribbean a better life in the wake of these disasters,” the President said.

Attention, he reiterated, must now be placed on providing relief and evacuation, but said the affected should not be moved from one affected country to another.
While relief and evacuation are short-term solutions, medium and long-term solutions should be implemented to reverse the effects of global warming. “More importantly, we got to think about mitigation, how we are going to prevent climate change at a global scale from affecting small-island developing states and also low-lying developing states, because, Belize, Suriname, and Guyana can also be affected by global warming and rising sea levels,” he emphasised.

Days later, 2nd Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, who had accompanied President Granger to UNGA72, expounding on the president’s comment, made it clear that the Government is willing to make lands available to the affected Caribbean residents on a temporary basis.

“The availability of land in Guyana is, on a per capita basis, is one of the highest in the world. Population density is very low, so lands are abundant. The problem really is, in some areas infrastructure for drainage and perhaps irrigation as well is lacking. So you don’t really have a shortage of land even if all of those areas were to be handed out, you would still have an abundance of land elsewhere,” Minister Greenidge told a large gathering at the Medgar Evers College, in Brooklyn last week. He subsequently told Guyana Chronicle that making lands available to islanders is nothing new, noting that lands were made available to St. Lucians and other Caribbean nationals along the Linden/Soesdyke Highway in the past.

Minister Greenidge said that if West Indians are interested in settling in Guyana on a temporary basis to allow for the reconstruction of their homeland, the Government is willing to facilitate them.

“If West Indians are interested, and if those who are providing relief, need a place in the short term, at which people can be resettled while (their) land is being rebuilt and made habitable, Guyana is prepared to assist in that regard,” Minister Greenidge told the Guyana Chronicle.

While US-based Guyanese, who were present at the Medgar Evers forum, applauded the Government for taking such a bold decision, Opposition Member, Anil Nandlall said the President has no authority to do such. “Indeed, from the inception, the PPP has issued several statements calling on the Government to render assistance. However, and with the greatest of respect, His Excellency the President cannot arrogate unto himself the power and authority to offer Guyana’s land mass to foreigners without a word of consultation with or approval of the real owners of these lands – the citizens of Guyana,” Nandlall stated upon hearing the news.

Nandlall, the former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister under the PPP, stressed that the issue was never discussed with citizens or at the level of the National Assembly. “The Leader of the Opposition or anyone else was informed or consulted in any manner whatsoever. Are we so unimportant in the President’s mind? From whence has President Granger derived the authority to offer our patrimony and our sovereign territory to foreigners?”

Nandlall noted too that the announcement comes at a time when thousands of Guyanese residing in Guyana are still clamoring to own a piece.

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2 thoughts on “Gov’t mulls offering lands”

  1. Offering land to people whose lives have been totally ruined by a hurricane is not an immediate solution to their plight. How do you expect people who have lost everything to just come to an undeveloped plot of land? What would be the better approach; is to offer them temporary housing, with the option to buy land or property at a future time if they so desire to stay in Guyana.
    Since Guyana has no such infrastructure readily available or the ability to sustain such an undertaking, your offer remains unrealistic.

  2. So what happens to guyanese who have application pending????????
    those who leave here choose to do so for greener pastures only to enjoy it for a while………….those that choose to stay and sweat it out to help build and pay their taxes what happen to them????????

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