GOVERNMENT will begin the process of the regularisation of State lands being occupied by residents of Kingelly Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB), Region Five, multiple sources say.

After a barrage of complaints to Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal and other government officials, preparations are being streamlined to regularise the community.
When contacted, Attorney-General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, acknowledged that his ministry also received complaints and steps are being taken to address the issue.

Reports indicated that the complaints were made after veteran trade unionist, Lincoln Lewis, visited the land and began damaging persons’ fences and other belongings in an attempt to seize hundreds of acres of land at Kingelly already in their possession.

Recently, over 30 Kingelly residents travelled to Georgetown from the WCB village and met with various authorities.
The bitter dispute with Lewis and the Kingelly land stems from arguments over ancestral properties dating back to the 1960s.
Since then, the issue has resulted in various forms of litigation as well as a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into claims made by Lewis that the properties are part of his ancestral inheritance.

Villagers had complained that this is despite their occupation of properties for in excess of three decades.
Residents accused Lewis of putting up a fence to stop the villagers from grazing their animals and living peacefully.
Lewis claims that his great grandfather, Kojo McPherson, bought all the lands and even testified before a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into African ancestral land matters.
In 2017, Lewis, during an appearance before a CoI into African ancestral land matters made claims that his grandfather had owned the properties. Lewis reportedly produced a transport for the land but told the CoI that there was no will to prove his inheritance.

He had explained “…That my great, great, great grandfather Kojo did not leave a will for his descendants is a matter of perspective in the era that he lived; that the absence of such document may have caused others, not of his lineage, to think that it is acceptable to claim land that they did not purchase nor could not have inherited. Our submission to this commission is to have this injustice corrected.”

Lewis, during his testimony, said that squatting at Kingelly has been an issue since around 1905. He said that he is aware of instances where the squatters have attempted to secure transports to the land in the past but he is unsure whether any succeeded.

Asked if any other means of securing the land had been pursued, Lewis related that, in the 1960s, the matter was taken to court but it has not progressed since then. He noted that he could not recall the last time the case was called.

Over 150 Kingelly families are contesting Lewis’ claim of ownership of the land.
The residents, who rely heavily on farming, complained that the illegal occupancy of their lands has severely affected their livelihood.