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Min of Education, Softball Association locked in land dispute
… latter occupied plot for almost 30 years
The padlocked gate of the softball ground, which is at the centre of a land dispute.
The Ministry of Education and the Guyana Softball Association are heading for a bitter stand off over a plot of land that currently houses the Association and its facilities. According to President of the Association, Cammie Ramsaroop, his association has been occupying that land for more that 25 years. The Association is now being asked to vacate the plot by the Ministry of Education.
Ramsaroop, an Attorney-at-Law, said that the developmental works that were done to the facility include the construction of a pavilion, the upgrading of the ground and other works, including fencing, all at the expense of the association and at a cost of some $30M.
Ramsaroop said that in 1984 an agreement was signed between the Softball Association, the government and the Government Technical Institute, for the association to occupy the land.
There was also an agreement that the association would be responsible for three-eighths of the developmental works needed at the time. The government had agreed to take care of the remaining expenses.
However, Ramsaroop said that the government did not honour the commitment by the latter and in fact the transformations that currently exist at that facility were exclusively at his association’s expense.
Ramsaroop said that after more than 25 years developing and transforming that facility the association received a letter from Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Pulander Khandai, giving the members four months to quit.
According to Ramsaroop, the letter stated that failure to adhere to such instruction will result in that Ministry taking whatever steps they deem necessary to rid the property of unwanted elements.
The recently constructed pavilion that may have to be demolished.
Ramsaroop said that all this time the association thought that the government was the owner of the land, but that was not the case. He explained that for some strange reason the executive decided to trace the history of the property and found out that the land is owned by the Mayor and City Council.
He explained that by an Act of Parliament in 1864, that plot was given to the M&CC by one Quinton Hogg. It was with this in mind that the association responded to the Ministry’s correspondence, informing the government that the association will not be removing from the land.
The association filed an injunction against the Ministry of Education preventing the Ministry from forcefully occupying the plot. Prior to the hearing of the injunction, Ramsaroop said that the Attorney General intervened and gave the association until the end of October of this year to vacate the land.
The Attorney General said that the developmental works done at the ground were voluntary waste, which the government is not responsible for. A reputable attorney for a number of years, Ramsaroop said as a matter of law, once the land is owned by the M&CC the association automatically earned prescriptive right to the plot since they are there for more than 12 years.
However, the Chief Justice discharged the injunction and another matter to determine the outcome of the case is to be heard next Tuesday.
Ramsaroop said that the Ministry of Education is moving ahead and trying to occupy the land even before the matter is determined.
The lawyer explained that Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, in the company of a police officer, showed up at the Carifesta Avenue location yesterday morning and instructed the caretaker, Michael Campbell, to remove from the property by noon yesterday.
The caretaker, who has been living there for 12 years, said that he has a wife and three children and has nowhere to go.
He defied the Minister’s order and is still on the premises.
The concerned man said that the Minister promised that upon his return everything on the land will be placed on the road.
When contacted, Minister Baksh said that the matter that was brought before the court by the association was discharged. However, he said that he was aware of the other matter slated to be heard next Tuesday.
He insisted, though, that the Ministry was nevertheless moving ahead with claiming the land since it belongs to the government.
He refuted claims that the plot is owned by the M&CC and asserted that there are documents to prove such.
The Guyana Softball Association has a membership of over 300 and an Executive Council of about 25 members.
In the meantime, the association has since placed four padlocks on the main gate preventing anyone from entering the premises.
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