Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:00 AM
Govt . swaps Berbice lease lands for transported Providence land – Cabinet memo
–Cabinet memo
…letter surfaces that contradicts CH&PA lawyer
The transfer of 150 acres of prime housing lands at Providence, East Bank Demerara, to Parliamentarian, Odinga Lumumba, was a swap for 6,700 acres of state land that Lumumba had leased from the People’s National Congress Government decades ago.
The state land is located in the Canje Basin in Berbice.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) parliamentarian received 150 acres of prime housing lands as a swap in November 2010.
Lumumba was not required to pay anything for those Providence lands. They were regarded as compensation by the Bharrat Jagdeo Cabinet for the Berbice land.
Questions about the transaction were raised on Thursday during a press conference hosted by the Board of Directors of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
However, the answers by CH&PA’s lawyer, Hannifah Jordan, were puzzling.
She said that she is unaware of any agreements entered into between the CH&PA and Lumumba.
She said she was also unaware of anything signed with Elaine Ville Development Inc, the company that Lumumba owns and which is the development company for the Providence lands.
A letter sent by CH&PA’s Chief Executive Officer, Myrna Pitt, on December 1, 2010, to McNeal Enterprise, a company associated with the Parliamentarian, showed clearly that CH&PA was aware of the transaction.
The letter dated December 1, 2010, said that Cabinet had approved the transfer of 150 acres of land located north of Mocha Access Road, at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
The land was transferred to the company in exchange for two blocks of leased state lands -6,700 acres- that is located on the right bank of Canje River.
Ms Pitt, in the said letter, said that CH&PA is currently in the process of finalizing the transfer of lands at Providence from the Guyana Sugar Corporation and that 150 acres would be effected to McNeal at the appropriate time.
The Attorney-at-Law, as the legal officer, should have known about the transaction as she was the attorney representing CH&PA at the time.
But at Thursday’s press conference, she was emphatic about being out of the loop.
Both Pitt and her Deputy, Denise King-Tudor, were absent from the press conference and therefore could not field any questions.
According to a confidential Cabinet document signed November 15, 2010, by former Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, the deal is “compensation” for the 6,700 acres Berbice lands.
The document explained that the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLASC) would discontinue the Berbice leases and waive all outstanding lease payments.
The 6,700 acres, the Cabinet document said, was earmarked to be reallocated to cattle farmers in the Manarabisi and Yakusari Canals.
The Cabinet decision was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Minister of Housing and Water and its Permanent Secretary, and the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission.
Lumumba has since started construction with a number of homes already built.
The land transactions at Providence to private housing developers have been a sore topic in recent years after questions arose about the transparency involved.
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