Latest update January 20th, 2025 4:00 AM
Housing and You…Family disputes and your rights
By Leonard Gildarie
Working as a journalist, I have over the years heard many complaints regarding land and property disputes. As a matter of fact, I know of several cases before the courts where angry family members are battling each other over pieces of property. It has led to years of strained relations between brothers and sisters, and even neighbours, over things like a boundary line.
People have even been shot, shot at and even murdered because of the emotional feelings it has generated. It can be of no surprise, because people hold dear to what a piece of property represents. It is not only a means to a living, but represents acquisition of wealth, something to be left to children and grand-children for generations to come.
I have gone to places like Black Bush Polder, East Berbice, West Coast Demerara and even Essequibo where farmers fight over drainage and rights to water.
I have seen tears of anger and frustration on the faces of those complaining. In most cases, they complained to the local Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the Land Registry, the Mayor and City Council, and even the Environmental Protection Agency.
At the time of writing, I know that the Land Court is not functioning, because the judge that was there retired in January. There has not been any replacement. I am being told that nobody really wants that job.
On Friday last, a senior citizen came to the office. He was dressed in slippers and highly agitated. He owns a piece of land in the West Demerara area. He has been battling relatives over the property which has been handed down over the years. Surveying was done years ago and he acquired papers for it. His family came and brought a new surveyor who conducted measurements. The boundary lines ended up in his living room.
A few days ago, police came with the family members and said they were there to break the fence. The homeowner asked what permission they had. The police said they saw a document. The fence was torn down. The man claims that he went to the police commander in the area who said that he saw a document too.
I advised him to see a lawyer…that the matter was one that warranted legal advice.
Now, I understand that a story has more than one side, maybe even three or four. With hundreds, possibly thousands of cases involving land and property disputes, reporting on somebody’s gutter hanging over your fence has become an impossible task.
It is more than worrying that the Land Court is out of commission. It is more than worrying that there are constant reports that City Councils and NDCs are turning a blind eye to violations of the by-laws and other regulations.
Far too often we hear stories of an employee being paid to turn a blind eye. Far too often we hear of persons barefacedly taking away properties that have been in family possession for years.
Where does one go for recourse when the system does not work? How could it be possible that some cases can take five to ten years to resolve in the court?
I am no lawyer, but I would not be allowing anybody to step into my property for a piece. There would be as they say, ‘hell to pay’.
If indeed the man is saying that there was no court case but some document ordered the land boundaries to be changed and that can be accepted as okay, then we are headed into a path that does not augur well for this country of ours.
Our laws should be sacred and I would urge for the Legal Aid Centre, which offers legal advice at no cost to poor people, to seek ways to expand its services. These conclusions would only come with the supposition that Legal Aid is functioning as it should.
As citizens, we should be insisting, loud and clear, that we have rights.
Again…what is the recourse for poor people?
I have lost a little faith in the system. Maybe it is time, as a proud and resilient people, to start being a little more aggressive in protecting what is ours.
Please do have a wonderful week and continue sending those comments to [email protected] or call weekdays on 682-1256 or 225-8491.
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