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Ed Ahmad’s company says Govt forced change in land use
…now goes to court to secure land title
The reason for attaching conditions to the sale of the GuySuCo land purchased by American-based businessman
Edul Ahmad
Edul Ahmad, was to ensure jobs for citizens, particularly those living in proximity of the intended woods factory.
This factory was initially slated to be built at Leonora, West Coast Demerara. However, instead of the wood processing plant the land is now being used for an elaborate housing facility.
It was recently deduced that the area was not conducive for a wood processing plant because of surrounding institutions such schools and other social infrastructure. South American Woods Inc was therefore denied permission to construct a factory. Instead, the company initiated Hollywood Gardens and Leonora Mall.
That denial led to the American-company applying to the Supreme Court to have the contract changed from a factory to a residential scheme.
The court, according to American Woods Attorney Roysdale Forde, ruled in favour of the change of land use hence the housing scheme with self containing amenities such as a mall, gas station among other things.
The lawyer explained that the government was selling the land, on condition of the factory. However, it appears that due diligence in terms of location worthiness for the proposed factory was not revisited.
Forde said that to his knowledge, the government would have made initial checks in terms of the factory’s viable West Coast Demerara location prior to the development of the community.
This meant that the area was slated for the factory prior to the construction of schools and other social institutions. This indicated that follow up checks were not done to ensure that the land could still be used for its initial purpose.
According to court documents produced by the wood company, applications were made to relevant authorities for the construction of the factory but they were denied.
Kaieteur News was unable to make contact with the relevant agents at National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd (NICIL), -the government agency which sold the land – to get clarity on the process used to designate the land for a factory.
But documents in the High Court dated January 30, 2013 showed that the Stewartville/Cornelia Ida NDC had denied the company land use for a wood factory. Another letter dated September 30, 2013 then saw the same institution giving a no objection for residential purposes.
This no object came subsequent to a September 11, 2013 letter from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) which objected to the use of the land for housing purposes since according to land transport, it did not facilitate residential purposes.
Another letter to the woods company on April 4, 2013 from the Office of the Regional Environmental Officer, also objected to a factory on the GuySuCo land for health reasons.
The land used for Hollywood Gardens and Leonora Mall.
As it stands, the government is being accused of, “selling the land although it could not be used for its intended purpose.” Some legal minds have even suggested that the wood company sue the government, while others say that Ahmad defaulted by changing the purpose of the land behind the government’s back.
When the government was questioned why they were not taking legal action against Ahmad, Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, was reported as saying that the onus is on GuySuCo to take legal action against the wood company since the government only facilitated the transaction.
Nonetheless, Ahmad, a close friend of former president Bharrat Jagdeo, purchased the almost 17-acre portion land at Leonora, for $80M and is estimated to make more than $600M profit from the residential facilities, while community employment seems in limbo.
Ahmad had argued overpayment of the GuySuCo land since its highest bid was $30M; and none the following year. He argued that apart from overpaying, the land could not have been used for its purpose.
Currently South American Woods Inc. has legally challenged none-issuance of transports to persons who purchased land at Leonora. The matter is before Chief Justice Ian Chang who ordered the Registar of Deeds to show reason for not granting the transports to close to ten persons.
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