Dear Editor,
I BEG your indulgence, as I can no longer sit idly and watch this extremely unfair campaign being waged against Guyanese where the acquisition of land in this country is concerned.
I take note, Sir, that there have been several claims, or should I say an ongoing effort by various persons and sections to assert illegality in the allocation of land, and unsurprisingly to persons predominantly of Afro-Guyanese descent. I kept watch as the “usual suspects” weighed in on the recently- launched Ghanaian oil and gas support company, Unicon Western Holding, as they tried to undeservingly discredit the company by claiming that it illegally received land in Guyana, when it was in fact the company’s local Guyanese partner who had acquired land for coconut growth several years after applying for same.

I kept watch as the “usual suspects” gladly jumped on the Kaieteur News hatchet job that was done to Guyanese remigrant Kirk Hollingsworth, who was accused of illegally acquiring 3200 acres of land, when the man was simply regularising his 80 ft. x 40 ft. 3200 square ft. family home in North Ruimveldt. Editor, these are the most recent incidents where you see agencies such as the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Private Sector Commission and other such organisations that have proven loyalty to a specific political party coming out with guns drawn to shoot down any instance of land power going to certain Guyanese.

President Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer of GCCI demanded transparency, and called on the authorities to publicise all lands given since their tenure and the policy used. Of course, these calls usually come when those on the receiving end are not the in-crowd of this specific political party. But I take offence, Mr. Editor, because Mr. Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer was apparently voiceless when his own father and business tycoon of National Hardware, Eddy Boyer, was given several properties with no “moral” and legal trace as to how large plots of land got into his hands, outside of the regular process and at irregular costs. For instance, that large plot of land he illegally received in the Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara area. Editor, I clearly recall that when that story broke, Boyer Senior, who was at the time the Chairman of the PSC, did not seek reelection and went virtually silent and under the radar. He never attempted to clear his name or offer an explanation as to how he got all that land under the last government.

Mr. Editor, there are several other cases like these, and worst scenarios that were brought to the fore by individuals, media houses, and other organisations, but these rich and powerful businessmen, who grew under the last government, were never this boisterous. As I understand it, even persons such as the DPP and other “big boys and girls” are quietly paying revised sums for the prime seafront properties that were stolen prepared with tax payers’ money and given to chosen members and supporters of the last government. Where was the GCCI president and others? I am not against transparency, Mr. Editor; I am against discriminatory and unfair behaviour that insinuates that only certain groups should have resources in this country.

Regards,
Peter Joseph