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MMA moves to repossess lands

May 13, 2008 News

The repossession and reallocation of state lands in the Mahaica/Mahaicony /Abary (MMA) Project Area (Abary/Berbice) and MARDS in the Mahaicony area for 2008 are now being moved a step further in order to complete the exercises for the coming autumn crop.

A release from the Authority indicated that, commencing yesterday, the entity began reviewing the responses by persons to the public notices placed in the newspapers for the different areas. The Authority is now sending reports to the Ministry of Agriculture and to the Office of the President for final instruction and approval.

The order of review will follow the order of the original publication of the notices/warnings, which started a month ago.

The Authority stressed that it is continuing to issue warnings to people, especially those who rent lands from others, not to go into occupation of these lands unless they are in receipt of written Government approval to do so.

Persons are being further advised that neither the Office of the President, nor the Ministry of Agriculture, nor the MMA Authority will be responsible for any losses or inconvenience persons may suffer as a result of their unauthorised and illegal occupation of any of these lands.

The Authority is also advising those persons who have filed Expressions of Interest to be allocated plots being repossessed, that this step of the process is slated to start some time next week.

Further, Expressions of Interest will continue to be received and the Authority is encouraging Expressions from persons residing in the same villages where the plots are located. Expressions are also welcomed from independent young families who have no access to lands. A form is available at the Authority’s head office for those who are desirous of expressing interest in the lands.

The MMA Authority has, over the past weeks, been giving notices and issuing warnings to persons who have been exercising control over various tracts of state lands within the MMA Project Area (Abary/Berbice) and MARDS in the Mahaicony /Abary area, but have not been paying the necessary drainage and irrigation charges.
This is in spite of the fact that about 75 percent of these lands are rented out by these ‘quasi’ landlords to other farmers, who have been cultivating and paying exorbitant rents to those in control.
In addition, in more than 90 percent of these cases there are no leases, and many persons have been controlling multiple tracts using the names of relatives and others in order to hide the true position. Also, many of these people for whom rents are collected on their behalf are living overseas but they continue to exercise control over these state lands, MMA said.
This exercise to repossess and reallocate started a year ago, and the debts that have accumulated are mostly between 2000 to 2007, when the rates were reduced and farmers were responsible for the maintenance of the system, the Authority having reconciled the accounts at the end of 1999, giving substantial write-offs.
From January 2008, the Authority has resumed responsibility for the secondary system and is vigorously enforcing rate collection in order to maintain the system after the rehabilitation exercise currently underway.

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