Latest update March 30th, 2025 6:57 AM
City Hall baffled over land development near Chinese Embassy
The Mayor and City Council of Georgetown (M&CC) is seeking to ascertain who is behind the clearing of the plot of land north of the Chinese Embassy on Mandela Avenue.
With the certainty that the land was being cleared by an unauthorised developer, Deputy City Engineer, Lloyd Alleyne, backed by a team of enforcement officials from the municipality descended on the property yesterday and ordered that all works cease.
Workmen preparing to fell a tree
A group of about six men were on site at the time and were attempting to fell a tree when the municipal team arrived with the intent was to arrest any and all persons engaged in works on the land since as a cease order was previously issued by the municipality.
The Deputy City Engineer said that he and the City Engineer, Gregory Erskine, were alerted to the activity and had sought to visit the location Sunday morning at which point the men on site were ordered to stop all works. A large section of the land had already been cleared.
According to Alleyne, the municipality has had no application for the development of the land neither had it authorised any works there.
“Even though we told them to stop the works, today (yesterday) we heard that they are still working. So I am here with the constabulary to arrest all of them,” the Deputy Engineer informed yesterday.
However, the workmen insisted that they were clearing the plot of land for a man who had in fact received permission to utilise the land from one “Minister Lumumba.”
Baffled by the declaration, the Deputy City Engineer sought to contact the man who contracted the men to clear the land. “I don’t know any Minister Lumumba,” Alleyne exclaimed as he spoke with the man believed to be one D. Maraj of 207 Sheriff Street, Campbellville, Georgetown. However, the men were still beckoned to stop all works as without the permission of the municipality their action could only be deemed illegal.
And in an effort to clarify the matter, the Deputy City Engineer said that he was subsequently told that works were being done to clear the overgrowth area because it was of concern to officials at the Chinese Embassy.
Nonetheless, Alleyne claims that the municipality was not aware of this concern thus he had sought to gain further clarity from the Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn, to determine if Central Government had authorised any works on the plot of land.
The municipality, of recent, has been vigilant in its attempt to prevent unauthorised works in Georgetown. Just last week the municipality had halted and commence destruction of works that had commenced at the junction of Charlotte and Oronoque Streets. According to information emanating from the council no application was made for the commencement of the work until after the work had started.
Permission to develop any property in the city must first be approved by the municipality, an undertaking which can take up to about four weeks to process. Failure to do so can not only lead to the destruction of works but also the see the municipality taking legal action against defaulters.
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