City council to probe lands leased by King, others

May 01, 2019 News

Former Town Clerk, Royston King

The Georgetown City Council is taking stock of lands leased by the previous administration of the city.
The decision to probe comes after former Mayor and City Council (M&CC) Town Clerk; Royston King, found himself under investigation for leasing land not owned by the Council to a shipping company.
The matter was the subject of the recent Commission of Inquiry into the operations of City Hall.
The inquiry revealed that on April 5, 2016, King affixed his signature to an Industrial Wharf Lease Agreement granting the company permission to lease the location at Lot 1 Mudflat, Lombard Street, Georgetown.
The premises was later discovered to be owned by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL)
According to a missive sent out by Public Relations Department of the municipality persons who have leases are urged to visit the office of the Town Clerk; to examine the current status of lands leased by the Georgetown City Council.
The council had noted that that several lands that were leased by the Georgetown Municipality, are either unutilized or the agreements have expired.
In order to advance the process of ‘Transparency and Accountability’, it is important that the Council address this matter with urgency.
The statement added that several lands that were formerly owned by the Council is currently under the stewardship of Guyana Lands and Survey Authority.
“It is important that the Council engages citizens on this matter. Mayor and Councillors of Georgetown and the Guyana Lands and Survey Authority will be meeting in the very near future to discuss the status of reserves and other public spaces within the city,” the statement added.
The CoI, revealed that King leased a Sussex Street property to Quick Shipping Incorporated, a private shipping company.
Information had previously surfaced that King had leased the riverfront property -reportedly not the property of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) – to the company.
King had been collecting a yearly rent of $625,000 from the tenants, despite claims that the State’s holding company– National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL)– owns the property.
Additionally, King has been implicated in a highly suspicious deal where he reportedly collected $6.8M from Brian and Ingrid Chase Mining and Trucking for the sale of lands identified as Government reserve.
The land is located along Aubrey Barker Road, North Ruimveldt.
Payment started in 2013 while King was serving as the Public Relations Officer of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
A document titled ‘License to Occupy Council Reserve Opposite Lot 1579-1580 Aubrey Barker Road North Ruimveldt – Guyana’ carries King’s signature as Town Clerk.
In July 2015, King was appointed Town Clerk. However, the first line of the lease document, which carries King’s signature as Town Clerk, states, ‘that the Licence is made and entered into on this day of 24th July, 2012’.
The agreement appears to have been struck based on a payment of $1.8M, which was made through the city’s treasury department on February 22, 2017.
King, who was sent on administrative leave to facilitate the CoI, has dodged numerous allegations of corrupt dealings involving taxpayer funds.

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