Jagdeo claims massive land giveaway, Lands and Survey refutes it

Jun 28, 2019 News

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The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) has refuted claims by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo of a massive land giveaway in the six months after the No Confidence Vote.

During a press conference yesterday, Jagdeo had said that thousands of acres of land were given away to persons who answer to President David Granger, in a manner that mirrors accusations this government has made about the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
With several diagrams, Jagdeo illustrated in detail how these lands have been allocated to persons who answer to President David Granger, and who are affiliated with the People’s National Congress (PNC).
He described the situation as “wanton, almost obscene acts of gathering land… to the detriment of the whole of Guyana”.
When contacted about the claims, Commissioner of GLSC, Trevor Benn, said that Jagdeo’s expose is riddled with misinformation. He noted that, in some cases, the land would have been applied for and approved before this government even took office…by the Donald Ramotar administration.
He is hosting a press conference to further nail the lies that Jagdeo peddled, he said.
Jagdeo, at the press conference, said that President Granger is placed on a pedestal as though he is not corrupt, and that he needs to give answers on these issues.
But Commissioner Benn said that it is unethical for a public official like Jagdeo, who is in a position to collect privileged information, to twist that information to suit his own benefit. Benn described yesterday’s press briefing by the Opposition Leader as distasteful.
The Opposition Leader stated that Marlon Bristol, who is Head of the Project Management Office at the Ministry of the Presidency, got one acre of land at Mocha in February, and 12 acres in Linden, in June 2019.
The Opposition Leader said that the giveaways were in prime areas in which the PPP Government had intended to build the deepwater harbour.
“In February 2019, he got 80 acres at Bohemia. We had talked about building a deepwater harbour [in Bohemia] where shorebase facilities can go.”
Moving on, Jagdeo mentioned Charles Ceres, husband of Ndibi Schwiers, who works at Department of the Environment. He said that Ceres got 1,297.1 acres in the Canje Creek, Region Six, and 112 acres in Bohemia, Region Six. He said that Ceres got a further 5,000 acres but did not say where the land is located, and another plot of land for which no details were provided.
State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA)’s Special Assistant, Eric Phillips, and Deputy Director Aubrey Retemyer were fingered by the Opposition Leader, as well.
Kaieteur News contacted Retemyer, who Jagdeo said got possession of 10 acres on the Soesdyke- Linden Highway and one acre at Mocha. Retemyer said that he had applied for land in 2014 during Donald Ramotar’s presidency, and that it was approved in 2017, not in the past six months, as Jagdeo claimed.
The former President then claimed that there is a rush to give land away for places where there is likelihood for shorebase facilities to be built. He alluded to 50 acres that were allocated on the Best Foreshore, West Demerara, and 40 acres in the Demerara River.
He noted that Great Wall Incorporated is a company that is commonly seen in GLSC records for three allocations, for which Serato Phillips is one of the directors. Jagdeo said Phillips is one of the persons that were involved with the establishment of the parking meters. He added that there seems to be a connection that leads Phillips to the Ministry of the Presidency.
The most significant of the claims made by Jagdeo is of three giveaways in the Pomeroon River, which amount to over 10,000 acres. These acres, he said, are for someone who is an ex-PNC MP. He said that one of the ex- MP’s family members got 2,229 acres of land; that the ex-MP himself got 1,200 acres, and that another file has 6,400 acres up for approval.
There are two others the Opposition Leader alluded to, with 1,400 and 1,083 acres respectively. He did not provide details.
He later mentioned Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, who he said was allocated land along Aubrey Barker road. In the case of Jones, Jagdeo did not name the acreage he was allotted. When contacted, Jones said that the land he was allocated is less than an acre, and that he can provide documentation and proof that he was put through the entire stringent application process for the land he received.
Jagdeo also said that Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, got 216 acres of land at Millie’s Hideout, on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
The Opposition Leader added that he will meet with and inform the international community on this matter, and that if any of these lands are bought by oil companies, they will be treated as stolen assets by a PPP government.
But after today’s rejection of his claims this is likely to be nothing more than an empty threat.
In the wake of the press conference, not a single media outlet carried the fabrication about the land distribution. By nightfall Jagdeo took to Facebook to accuse Kaieteur News of calling all the media houses and asking them to refuse to carry the land allocation report.

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