Dear Editor,

PLEASE permit me space in the letter column of your newspaper to once again highlight my concern as to the above.  Over the years I have been writing pertaining to the same in Guyana and I will clearly say that in Region Five, subletting of government’s leased lands has been a profitable business over the years for some land-lease holders.

In 2016, I wrote about the same and also had a conversation with the then minister of agriculture, but nothing was done to stop this nonsense that is happening in subletting of leased lands by the legal lease holders.

In Region Five, thousands of acres of land are being given by the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary- Agriculture Development Authority (MMA-ADA) through legal leases to persons who claim to be or want to be rice farmers.  Farmers who are planting rice and want to expand would normally apply to the MMA-ADA for more land through the legal way which is by lease, and sometimes they are being told that lands are not available.

I must thank MMA-ADA for ensuring that lands are being given through the legal means, so that rice farmers can continue to make our region proud by being the best and most productive rice-producing region in Guyana.  Lands are also being given through lease to cattle farmers by MMA-ADA, so that those large cattle farmers can have their cattle away from the housing areas and farmlands.

I also know that many are also very concerned when the “real rice farmers” are crying out for developmental works to be done in the areas for better access dams, drainage and irrigation.  Many of us will join with those very “real rice farmers” to echo their calls for development, but little do we know that those very farmers are subletting government’s leased lands from the legal lessees.  (I won’t blame the farmers for doing such because they want to invest more into the sector).

There are scores of persons who have tens of acres of farm lands through the legal means of a lease from MMA-ADA and are in the business of subletting those lands to the “real rice farmers ”.  Many of those very lease-land holders are also in the U.S. and are making money off those very lands that they are subletting to others.

We all know that subletting of government leased lands is “illegal” and MMA-ADA makes it clear before handing those leases to the applicants.  So they are very much aware that when they sublet those lands it is “illegal business” that they are into, but they don’t care because they are making more money per acre on rental fees than MMA-ADA.

The lessees of those leased lands would charge\rent to the farmers for somewhere around $15,000 to $20,000 per acre of rice land.  While MMA-ADA charges $7,500 per acre of rice lands (present fee charge per acre).  Under the APNU (PNC) government, that very land was subletting\renting around $25,000 to $35,000 per acre because Noel Holder found it wise to raise the land-rental fee to $15,000 per acre. I won’t say why he had to ensure it was raised, but I believe it has a lot to do with the subletting business.

Guyanese brothers and sisters, those very legal leased-land holders who are subletting and collecting those high rental fees are the ones whom I believe are not paying MMA-ADA their leased-land rental fees per acre.  I am very much saying this because I know that if management of MMA-ADA goes public on who are the persons in arrears to the authority, you would hear “well, I am not planting lands anymore, my uncle or friend planting it for me”, “my son or grandchildren planting the lands”, etc.

Those legal land-lease holders are the ones who are making the “real rice farmers” face hardship at times, especially when infrastructural works have to be done, so that farmers can have better access to their farmlands.

Recently, in Region Two, I saw farmers protesting against the legal owner of the rice lands they are renting and saying a lot of negative things about the owner of those lands.  But the owner came out and made it clear that the legal lease owners are subletting his lands and making thousands more of what he charges them to lease his lands, and yet they don’t want to pay their legal land charges.

So, those legal lease-land owners are not only taking advantage of the government by subletting the leased lands at a higher rate, but are also taking the said advantage on private land owners who are renting\leasing lands to farmers.

Most of us should know that it is clear that once you are the legal lease owner of farmlands that are leased by the MMA-ADA and you sublet, it’s “Illegal”; therefore, the entity can withdraw those very lands from the original lease-land owners because they went beyond and breached the legal agreement.

With much to do in developing the MMA-ADA at this time because nothing was done under the previous government to improve the dams, drainage or irrigation in the scheme, those legal land-lease owners need to pay their dues.

I am calling on the board of directors and management of the MMA-ADA to take quick action against those who are subletting lands and moreover to take them away and give them to the farmers who are presently planting the land.

Don’t only take the lands away from those who are subletting, but also ensure that they pay all of their dues owed MMA-ADA because over the years they were in the subletting business and making money, but they did not want to fulfil their obligations to the entity by paying their fees.

Yours sincerely,

Abel Seetaram