SIGNIGICANT progress has been made with regards to a promise made by the government to residents of Queenstown Village, Essequibo Coast, to address the issue of ancestral lands.

The ownership of lands at Calabash Lake, near Queenstown on the Essequibo Coast, which reportedly was included in the Amerindian reserves, is being contested by residents of Queenstown community.

It is the belief of the residents that the tract of land being claimed was included in the parcel that was bought by freed African slaves.

On Monday, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) Trevor Benn, when reached for an update, confirmed that a survey of the lands has recently been completed, a report was compiled and that the GL&SC is working along with the residents to bring some closure to the issue.

It was Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, who at a community meeting with the residents of the community, in response to a query by Cornel Beaton, a resident, had given the assurance that the government would soon be making a decision on how to distribute ancestral lands to residents.

Beaton, speaking on behalf of the residents of the community, related the case of some 500 acres of land over the high bridge, which the residents are desirous to extend and use to create a housing scheme.

Harmon told the residents that the issue was about ownership and to whom should the tract of lands be handed over. “We have to decide who do we hand the land to…do you hand it to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) or a community…it is an issue of ownership,” he said.

President David Granger had, in March 2017, established a CoI under the Commission of Inquiry Act, to examine and make recommendations to resolve all issues, and uncertainties surrounding the claims of Amerindian land titling, the individual, joint or communal ownership of lands acquired by freed Africans and any matters relating to land titling in Guyana.

Making the claim then before the CoI, Cornel had avowed that, “There was evidence that our ancestors had demarcated the boundaries of this land, as it was a part of the agreement in the terms of purchase. However, sir, there has been an unprecedented act of usurping of ancestral lands and cover-up. We say this because when the Amerindian boundaries were drawn, this stretch of land was included in the area of reservation. and we have been asked by persons in authority to withhold information and evidence on their acquisition of this land.”

He also told the commission that Queenstown had been sold to 15 freed Africans for $15, and explained that the agreement took the form of an absolute grant.
He said that while he had not observed any Amerindians occupying the space, persons had been logging in the area, but could not say whether the activity was legal or illegal.
Harmon further explained that lands not transported and titled currently belong to the state but, it should be returned to the community. He noted that the direction, in which they (government) choose to go, is outlined in a report which was compiled after the completion of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into ancestral lands. Over 500 recommendations were included in the report.

Government would love to return the land to the community but it is the residents that would have to decide how to disburse it. “I would love to see you have it…you are the heirs to the land,” he said, as he urged members of the Queenstown community to come together and determine in their own way how best to address the matter. He maintained that the government wants the land to be moved from the state to the community.