PRESIDENT Irfaan Ali, on Friday, issued an order in the Official Gazette revoking the Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) authority to sanction the renting and granting of leases and other functions.

Made under “The Interpretation and General Clauses Act (Cap 2:01)” the order is cited as the “Delegation of Functions (Revocation) Order 2020”
“The Delegation of Function Order 2016 delegating certain function to the Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission is revoked… Made this 7th day of August,” the order, which was signed by Ali, read.

The current serving Commissioner of the GLSC is Trevor Benn.
The referenced “Delegation of Functions Order 2016” had empowered the Commissioner to exercise functions on behalf of the president as conferred by the Lands Department Act and State Lands Act, delegating powers to the post in relation to public and state lands.

The functions had previously been conferred on the post by former President David Granger in 2016.
Under the 2016 order, the Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission was “deputed to exercise on behalf of the President the functions relating to the sanctioning of renting and granting of leases, licences, and permission of occupancy of all Public Lands (government lands under the meaning of the Lands Department Act and State Lands under the meaning of the State Lands Act)”.

The withdrawal of the functions means that approval for leases must now pass through the Office of the President and get the president’s approval before going forward.
When contacted by the Guyana Chronicle, Benn said while the change will slow up the work of the Commission somewhat, the powers were always at the discretion of the President of the day.