Latest update September 4th, 2026 10:24 AM
Timehri residents are squatters
…have no claim to airport land
The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission has confirmed that Timehri North occupants are squatting on lands belonging to Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation. The airport land was demarcated in 1990 by the Commission.
Manager of the Land Administration Division, Enrique Monize, said that he is confident that the Commission did not lease lands to anyone in that area.
When the area was surveyed and demarcated there were empty Government buildings and about three squatters. Though surprised that there are about 300 houses and 30 shops in the area now, Monize acknowledged that the Commission was aware of increasing squatters over the years.
He stressed that notices were dispatched to squatters to evacuate the area several times but no demolition exercises were carried out.
According to Transport Minister, Robeson Benn, when the situation was escalating the Public Works Ministry issued notices to squatters but they were defied.
“We said there should be no new building and they kept building. Then we went out and take down some of those new buildings …That a certain terrorist was on airport lands- squatting at the back there and we had a great near-miss (the Caribbean Airline crash).”
To date occupants, equipped with utility services and farmlands, are refusing to remove from the area though the airport runway is expected to be extended. They recently sent a lawyer’s letter to the airport rejecting notices to remove from the land.
According to Monize, the boundaries of the airport are not defined by the fence. That structure runs within the airport land and serves as security for the airport, particularly the runway. He added that the airport also needs a clear path zone.
Highlighting the airport boundaries in relation to the squatters to the north, he said the airport land begins from the junction of the airport exit and goes in a straight line in a north-easterly direction to a point approximately 3,500 metres from the localizer.
He expounded that to the north the most significant landmark that shows the airport boundary is the Old Ammo Dump. That is a restricted area on Ohio Avenue.
Monize added that the prison building that stands on the airport land is a surveyed plot of land. It was there when the Commission demarcated the airport.
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