FORMER Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn, who served under the former A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration, was, on Friday, slapped with a third charge of misconduct in public office.

He appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, to answer to the charge which read that between October 1, 2018 and August 31, 2020, in his capacity as Commissioner of the GL&SC, he allegedly wilfully misconducted himself by executing a sale of a parcel of land located at Le Repentir, Georgetown to Cevons Waste Management Inc. in the sum of $80 million, knowing that at the time he did not have the authority to do so.

The charge further alleged that the said wilfully conducted act amounted to a breach of the public trust, without any excuse or reasonable justification. Benn was not required to plead to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of $100,000. He was represented by attorneys-at-law, Mark Waldron and Keoma Griffith. The matter was adjourned to June 18, 2021.

In February this year, Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C. wrote to Morse Archer, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cevons Waste Management Inc., instructing him to vacate the said land or face legal proceedings.

It was discovered that Benn purported to issue a lease for the land to Cevons Waste Management Inc. for a term of 50 years; however, the land is owned by the National Sports Commission (NSC), a body corporate established by virtue of the National Sports Commission Act 1993, which is separate from GL&SC.

HAS NO AUTHORITY

Nandlall had further highlighted in his letter that Benn did not possess lawful authority to promise to sell the lands to Cevons Waste Management Inc. as that authority is vested with the President.

“The power to sell State lands resides with the President by virtue of Section 3 (1) of the State Lands Act, Chapter 62:01 and was never delegated to the former Commissioner,” the Attorney-General wrote.

Archer had previously said that his company followed all guidelines and legal procedures in the purchase of a plot of land that the Government is now seeking to repossess. He had expressed hope for a resolution void of any legal showdown.

The CEO had said that the land was purchased from the GL&SC in 2018 for $100M of which $80M has already been paid. He explained that as per the written agreement with GL&SC, he was told that the transport for the land will take three years to be transferred and once that was done, the remaining $20M would be paid.

Archer had also highlighted that he received a Government evaluation for the land, putting the value at $47M. He said despite this when he approached the Commission, he was told he had to pay $100M.

OTHER CHARGES

This is the third misconduct in public office charge Benn is being slapped with over a short period of time. On April 21, he appeared before Senior Magistrate, Sherdel Isaac-Marcus, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to a similar charge and was granted bail in the sum of $100,000.

That charge pertained to the sale of two parcels of land– 4,725 and 4,805– all being a portion of Plantation Ruimveldt, to Wilfred Brandford, a former member of the Board of Directors of the GL&SC, who was serving in the position at the time of the transaction. The charge stated that the parcels of land were sold to Brandford for $13.5 million, when the land was initially valued at a sum of over $60 million.

Then, on March 12, Benn was released on $200,000 bail when he appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to a misconduct charge which was laid in connection with the alleged illegal leasing of State lands.

That charge alleged that between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2020, while being a public officer, the Commissioner of GL&SC, he wilfully misconducted himself by causing the sum of $27 million to be paid by JANICO Industrial Engineering Limited for the lease of six acres of land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara.

It was also alleged that he did so knowing at the time that the commission did not have the authority to lease the land and thereby granted a provisional lease on March 27, 2020, to the said engineering company without any description. This alleged wilful misconduct amounts to a breach of the public’s trust, without any excuse or reasonable justification.