Remigrant loses millions in West Berbice dispute over lands

Jan 16, 2018 News

trio arrested for spray-poisoning paddy

Farmer, Donald Joseph

When Donald Joseph decided on remigration, and to invest in the rice industry, he had no idea that he would have encountered the challenges that now confront him.

Joseph, of 59 Section D, Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, received written permission from the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agriculture Development Authority, MMA/ADA, the state agency responsible for the administration of state lands, to clear and develop a tract of state land on the left bank of the Abary River at his expense, and to occupy an area of 296 acres of the very tract of land strictly for agriculture purposes. This publication was able to verify this via documents bearing the MMA seal.

According to the farmer, he invested approximately thirty million dollars to clear the land of trees, and to build dams necessary for the cultivation of rice. He started cultivating the land in 2013, but in 2016, he was approached by an individual, also of Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, who is claiming ownership of the said tract of land, and is also demanding payment for the period during which Joseph has been occupying the land.

However, the individual has so far failed to produce any form of documentation to support his claims of ownership. The matter has since been brought to the attention of the MMA/ADA, and, at a subsequent meeting, the claimant was officially advised that Joseph was authorized to occupy the tract of land in question, since according to records, the said parcel of land is indeed state land.

With the MMA/ADA having officially advised the parties involved as to the ownership of the land, and the rights to occupy such lands, Joseph thought that the issue was finally resolved. However, that was not to be. He claims that he continues to suffer in various forms, and he believes that the motive is to frustrate him to such an extent that he would eventually vacate the land which he now occupies.

According to Joseph, there have been attempts to set fire to his pick-up truck at his Bush Lot residence. The farmer claims that he has lost much of his feathered stocks in the Abary location, through people deliberately poisoning his ducks.

Joseph has reported that when he was anticipating harvesting over nine thousand bags of paddy last crop, valued approximately twenty-seven million dollars, he lost the entire crop because people willfully flooded his field at a critical moment, causing him to lose the entire crop.

And, there has been no letting up. On Monday January 8, Joseph was able to get a police party to arrive in good time to catch three men red-handed. The loss, however, was still great. Of the 296 acres cultivated, the men had already sprayed 270 acres with the chemical Glyphomax, with the intent being to destroy the crop. The police found the men with two cases of the chemical, or 24-1 litre bottles and a motor blower which was used to dispense the chemical.

Joseph estimates that he would have thereby lost around eight hundred bags of paddy, or in the vicinity of twenty-four million dollars.

The men were taken into custody, and latest information is that the police are awaiting legal advice .

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