Harmon defends appointment of Land Court registrar

Sep 20, 2015 News

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Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, has come out in defence of the recent appointment of Land Court Registrar, Rosalie Robertson.  In response to questions surrounding the appointment, the Minister has said that Ms. Robertson is suitably qualified to fill the post.

According to Harmon the new Land Court Registrar possesses the necessary credentials suited for the job.
Speaking on Friday, Harmon disclosed that Robertson was most qualified for the position.
He said that the job requires that the selected person must be an Attorney – at- Law with working knowledge of the department.  Of all the applicants, he said Robertson was selected since she possessed these key qualities.
The Minister of State held that the aforementioned criterion is essential to the functions and improvement of the Land Court Registry.
Robertson was selected to serve as Land Court Registrar, several weeks after former head of the Land Registry, Juliet Sattaur, was sent on leave.
Sattaur was sent on leave amidst accusations of non-performance and slothfulness in the processing of transactions at the registry. The Land Court Registry was also plagued with reports of corruption and backlog in recent years.
While the government had signaled intention to have Sattaur replaced and the department restructured, there has been no indication that the former Land Court Registrar had been permanently relieved of her duties.
Robertson was officially sworn to serve as Registrar of Lands, before Chief Justice, Ian Chang, at the Supreme Court of Judicature on August 28 last.
Many persons have since condemned the appointment noting that there was no public announcement or advertisement, inviting suitably qualified persons to fill the vacancy of such an esteemed public office.
While in opposition, members of both APNU and AFC parties had widely criticized and condemned the PPP/C administration over the manner in which persons were selected to fill key positions in public offices.   Questions have since been raised about APNU+AFC administration commitment to transparency and ensuring that equal opportunity is given to all, those who applied for public offices.
Attorneys -at- Law, Christopher Ram and Leon Rockcliffe, especially, criticized the move by Government deeming it an act of “illegality.”
In expressing his disapproval Ram cited the lack of amendment to the Land Registry Act.  The Guyana Bar Association had pointed to Sections 7(1) of the land registry Act Cap 5:02, which stipulates there shall be a Registrar of Lands and Deputy Registrar of Lands, who shall be the person for the time being holding the offices of Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds respectively.
However Attorney General (AG), Basil Williams, in a recent address to the National Assembly noted that the provision is a temporary one.
“Lawyers must read the section; they will see that the section they are referring to is a sunset clause. When they read it they will see the words “for the time being.” After you appoint the registrar for the land registry that is the end of the provision so you don’t need to repeal anything; it’s a sunset clause,” he asserted.
Williams posited that Robertson’s appointment was necessary due to the backlog of cases at the Land Court.
He claimed that she was chosen through the normal process of employing people. He had disclosed that Robertson was among several persons, who had applied for the post.   The AG subsequently referred all questions regarding the appointment to the Ministry of Presidency, which now holds the responsibility of overseeing the department.
In a further response to the criticisms on Friday, Harmon debunked the claims of illegality.  Underlining the fact that Robertson was sworn in at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice, Ian Chang, he exclaimed “if that process is illegal, I don’t know what is legal.”
While he did not detail the points of reference used to employ the new registrar or the identity of other applicants, Harmon maintained that Robertson was most suitably qualified for the position since she is an employee of the Land Registry’s office. She has been working in a senior position, for a number of years.
Questioned further about government’s failure to tender public notices for the post, Harmon disclosed very little about the process.
He essentially claimed that the persons who applied had been following the news.
“Once they are following the news, they would have seen that Ms Sattaur was spent off,” he added.
He said that Robertson was selected from applicants, to allow for the adequate redress at the Land Court Registry.
The APNU- AFC Government had promised to look into the functions of the Registry.  The government had expressed optimism that with the appointment of a new head and adequate management, the conditions at the registry would improve.
Since her appointment, the new head had promised to make the Land Court Registry a model department delivering excellent service.
Given the history and complains of fraud surrounding the Registry, Robertson has vowed that corruption will not thrive under her watch. She said that she will ensure that all matters are dealt with as quickly as possible.
As a long term objective, the new Land Court Registrar revealed plans to have the systems at the Land Registry digitized.

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