THIRTY-SIX residents of Nurney/Kildonan, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), were overjoyed on Thursday when they received new land leases from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) freeing them from almost a decade-old wait.

The leaseholders will now have access to state lands aback Nurney/Kildonan, known as third and fourth-depth. They were presented with their documents by GLSC Commissioner and Chief Executive, Trevor L. Benn and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Commission, Paulette Henry.

The Commission first engaged the residents in 2016 after letters were sent by them requesting the Commissioner to look into their concerns. “Most of the residents have been waiting for their applications to be processed under the previous land tenure regularization programme during the early 2000s,” the Commission stated in a release.

Delivering remarks to the new leaseholders, Benn said after several rounds of consultations to verify the claims made by the residents, the Commission began to process applications for the residents. “Unfortunately, we were not able to deliver to everyone who made a claim. We had to verify these claims, we had to go through the system to understand what is going on on the ground and so on, but I am happy that for most of you, we are able to give you some hope for your future,” he said.

Benn told the residents that the Commission’s expectation is that the recipients will now put their lease to economic use. Meanwhile, Henry said that she is pleased that the Commission was able to address the concerns of the majority of the residents in such a short space of time.

“I know many of you had the issue of not having your leases and access to your land, but we are very pleased that we were able to fix this for you. I am urging you to kindly start working the land to ensure that it is properly utilized, this is the President’s vision,” The Board Chair said.

In acceptance of the leases, the new leaseholders expressed gratitude to the Commission for addressing their issues after years of waiting. First-time leaseholder and farmer from Kildonan, Compton Collins, said it was an emotional day for him. Collins said he had been waiting to be a landowner to expand his business. “I feel so happy right now, I cannot explain how I feel to have my lease for the very first time,” he related.

Another first-time leaseholder, 84-year-old Marphy Albert was elated to receive her lease for the very first time. The woman said she is into farming but will pass the baton to her children and grandchildren. “The plan for the land is that the young ones can make use of it, work the lands and feed the family and make a living,” she said.

“I am the old one and I fight to get it, so now it is for the younger ones to make use of it.” One resident, Michael Patterson, said he feels that he was well-rewarded having gone through the process to get his lease. “There were lots of uncertainties involved along the way but I am satisfied and I feel elated to know that we are now recipients and guardian of our ancestral lands.”

At the handing-over, Benn announced that a similar exercise is planned for the neighbouring village of Limlair, in the near future.