Clear conflict of interest if Chairman awarded 10,000 acres of land - Jagdeo

Clear conflict of interest if Chairman awarded 10,000 acres of land – Jagdeo

Dec 28, 2019 News

– Opposition Leader

The lease of over 10,000 acres of Mahaica lands to Kelvin Saul, Chairman of the
Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA), appears to be more than a conflict of interest.

Board Chairman, Kelvin Saul

“This can’t be just a regular form of conflict. What about the other applications of all the other small farmers?”
This was the question asked by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday during his weekly press conference.
In recent days, it was learnt that Saul, the chairman of the authority, would have benefitted from over 10,000 acres via a registered business named Mc Agricultural Trading and Investment Service.
According to Jagdeo, yesterday, if it is indeed established that Saul received those lands while he was a member of the board of the authority, then questions would be raised about the applications for several small farmers who have been wanting lands too.
“What about the land that has been taken away from the smaller farmers? Many of them can’t pay the 15,000 per acre fee. These farmers are going bankrupt because they cannot pay for these lands.”
While the MMA-ADA Act does not explicitly speak to situations of board members receiving lands, it does warn about persons who have interest in a transaction, sitting when decisions are being made by the authority.
According to the MMA-ADA Act, in the Second Schedule, “A member of the Authority shall not take part in or vote on the decision whether at a meeting of the Authority or of a committee on any matter with respect to and transaction between the authority and any person in whose business the member is pecuniarily interested, whether directly or indirectly…”
Board members are not supposed to be benefitting from lands at the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA).
This was the opinion of Region Five chairman, Vickram Ramphal on Thursday.
Ramphal, who sits on the board, said that he will be reviewing his records to determine when the lands were approved by the board and other details.
Saul has not officially made a statement as yet.
The Opposition is contending that there are other cases of what it describes as land grabbing, ahead of the March 2nd general elections.
Opposition parliamentarian, Harry Gill, said that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is gathering evidence.
The MMA/ADA is a semi-autonomous agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, governed by a Board of Directors. The Board is responsible for the formulation of policies for the efficient functioning and operations of the MMA/ADA. It has thousands of acres of farmlands it is responsible for.
The authority was formed as the executing agency for the construction of all drainage and irrigation works in Region Five.
The agency is also responsible for the allocation of state lands between the Berbice and Mahaica Rivers.