Land belongs to the people

Jun 25, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The lands which are held by the State, whether through a public corporation or otherwise, essentially belong to the people. Governments are just trustees of the assets of the people. As agents of the people, they have to act in the best interests of the people. When it comes to State lands therefore, it is necessary that these lands are disposed in a manner that is transparent and otherwise ensures the best possible deal for the people.
Prime lands have recently been disposed of by the government. Questions are being asked – and answers should be provided – about these transactions to ensure that the best prices were obtained.
The mudflats of the former Guyana Rice Board were formally leased to a business concern. Full title has now been passed to that business. The transactions took place just prior to the March 2 elections. This ought not to have happened. No government should be selling State lands days before an elections.
It was said that the lease arrangement had given the business an option to buy. But as was pointed out before in this column an option to purchase does not accrue an automatic option to sell on the part of the State. In other words, not because there is clause providing such an option means that the government is obligated to sell.
The property is located in a prime location. There is a high demand for such prime real estate and there are not many riverside properties available. One estimate has put the market value at close to US$5M. However, the details of the sale have not been made public and therefore it is not clear just how much the government has received for the mudflats.
The public has a right to know. Public lands belong to the citizens of a country. The least which can be done is for the government to make public the price at which the land was sold so that the public can assess whether that price approximated to its market value. Members should not be kept in the dark about these matters since the public can act as watchdog to ensure that there is value for money.
The second set of prime lands, which were sold recently were 132 acres at Ogle, East Coast Demerara. Given the proximity of the lands to the Eugene Correia International Airport and the proposed Headquarters of Exxon Mobil, these lands would have a high market value.
The National Industrial Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) should make public the valuation of the lands, the prices at which it was sold and the amount which will be remitted to the Guyana Sugar Corporation.
The investors are going to make a ton of money when they develop these lands. There was no reason why, therefore, the sugar company could not have themselves sold or themselves developed these lands. It seems as if the thinking within the government is that the sugar company should only be producing sugar. But what is there to stop the sugar company from being involved in real estate development? GuySuCo can make far more money by developing its lands than by simply disposing them.
Land sales should not be used to cover operating expenses. The sale of lands should be used strictly for investments. If you have to sell your property just to pay your electricity bill, then you are effectively de-capitalizing your business. The land sales should be invested and the proceeds from that investment should then be used to meet capital expenses.
This is what Norway does with its Natural Resource Fund. It invests the monies and only spends the interests of profits it makes from the investments.
When the State sells properties, this money should benefit the people. It should not all be put at the disposal of the government. The government should create a special fund and put 50% of all land sales into this Fund. After the Fund has accumulated a fair sum of money, the proceeds should be divided among the people.
After all, the land belongs to the people. It should not benefit a few private individuals when there are thousands of landless persons in Guyana and thousands of persons who should be able, over time, to receive a cheque in the post each month from the sale of public assets.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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