— major infrastructural works to be undertaken in coming months

WITHIN the next eight weeks the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) will commence the issuing of 50-year leases to residents of Mocha-Arcadia as the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) community positions itself to undergo further infrastructural transformation.

GL&SC Chief Executive Officer Trevor Benn made the announcement on Sunday evening during a ministerial outreach to the community led by Minister of State Joseph Harmon.
Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes; Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson; Chairman of Mocha-Arcadia Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Rudolph Adams; Chief Executive Officer of Central Housing and Planning Authority, Lelon Saul; and Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Water Incorporated, Dr. Van-West Charles, were among the officials present.

Addressing the scores of residents that turned out to the public meeting at the Mocha-Arcadia Primary School, Benn said qualified residents will be granted 50-year leases within the next eight weeks.

Putting the land programme into perspective, the GL&SC CEO explained that when this administration took office in 2015, it was inundated with complaints from the residents of Mocha-Arcadia that they were treated unfairly with respect to the distribution of lands in the area.
By June 2016, the minister of state and GL&SC had met with residents with the aim of resolving issues surrounding the allocation of lands in the area.
“Ever since then we have been working to ensure that the residents of this community receive justice in relation to the lands previously held by their foreparents,” Benn said.
He noted that at the time, there were some 1700 acres of land at the back of the village, which was allocated to four individuals, none of whom lived in the community. After recognising that the lease holders were in breach of the agreement, a decision was taken to cancel those leases, Benn further explained.
Once the 1700 acres of land became available, he said GL&SC immediately made the lands available to residents of the community. Some 320 lots for housing and agricultural purposes have been made available to residents along with 58 larger plots strictly for agricultural purposes.

“We received substantiated claims from at least 123 residents and in December of last year we offered provisional leases to each of those 123 claimants. Today, we are finalising the survey of the lands, which will make these lots permanently available to the community and within the next eight weeks we expect that we will be able to commence issuing 50-year leases to the residents,” Benn disclosed to loud rounds of applause.
FARMING
Based on the fact that Mocha-Arcadia is a farming community, the GL&SC CEO said a decision was taken for qualified residents to be granted plots of land that would enable them to farm.

“The lots are one acre each and for those who are seriously involved in agriculture, we have differentiated size lots at the back that will begin to be available to you before the end of 2017,” Benn assured.

CH&PA CEO, delivering brief remarks, said the authority is also taking the necessary steps to ensure that lands are made available to residents in Mocha- Arcadia.
“I know it is of concern [to] the NDC, in relation to those lots in Barnwell, CH&PA and the NDC will go into that community and confirm and verify all those unallocated house lots, and the people of Mocha-Arcadia would be given priority for those lots,” Saul assured. He disclosed that shortly, CH&PA will commence the electrification programme in the community of Barnwell.

Alluding to what he considered to be a “sensitive issue” for the people of Mocha- Arcadia — the Broad Street Resettlement — Saul said that the CH&PA has reached a position and the process is moving forward, but gave the assurance that the concerns of residents were being addressed.
Residents had expressed security, health and infrastructure-related issues, and according to the CH&PA CEO, the authority is working with the relevant government ministries and agencies to have those concerns addressed.

BETTER SERVICE
Speaking on GWI’s programme for the community of Mocha-Arcadia, Dr. Van- West Charles told the residents that they are now receiving better services because of the works done in recent years.
“For 2018, as the plans for housing are concretised, then we will move to ensure that a new well comes into place to address the full needs of Mocha-Arcadia,” he posited.
Residents of Mocha-Arcadia are also in line to benefit from the construction of a $10.7M bridge, which will replace the current one that is presently in a deplorable state, Minister Ferguson said as she took to the podium.

Ferguson said the Public Infrastructure Ministry is cognisant of the other infrastructural needs of the community with respect to roads and bridges, and those needs would be met next year.

“We want you to understand that come 2018 your Burnham Drive will be fixed. This is what Minister Ferguson is saying, Burnham Drive will be fixed, hold me to that,” she assured.
She was keen on pointing out that when the administration entered office, the main access road in the community was without lights and in a deplorable state, but those issues are now things of the past.