Govt. to regularise lands

Aug 24, 2020 News

…Kingelly residents, Lincoln Lewis dispute

The Government is moving to regularise the occupation of lands by residents of Kingelly, West Coast Berbice in the face of a dispute raised by veteran trade unionist Lincoln Lewis, over claims of ancestral rights to the lands.
In a statement publicised via his social media page Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall said that the steps will be taken to regularize the occupatio

Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall displays a copy at the recently certified transport for Kingelly

n based on instructions from President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
Nandlall who was recently appointed AG became aware of the dispute over village while in opposition. He said that the residents of Kingelly had approached him for assistance, in respect of a claim by Lewis that his fore-parents owned the village.
“Most of the residents,” he disclosed “have been living in the village, in their individual homes, from birth and their parents lived there as well. Some of them are now eighty years old. In short, their occupation of that village dates back to over a century.”
He noted too that he had prepared a written statement on behalf of the residents and submitted it to a Commission of Inquiry in respect to ancestral lands established by former President David Granger. Lewis had also made his claim of ownership to that Commission.

Additionally, the AG said that while in opposition, he filed applications for prescriptive title for more than 20 of these residents and all were granted– some persons have received their transport already. Nandlall noted too at the time applications were approved, the Registrar of Deeds’ Report disclosed that there was no titular owner of the land.
“No one, including Lincoln Lewis, lodged any opposition to the Applications for Prescriptive Title as is required by the law,” he said.
The AG claimed that, “Notwithstanding this, Lewis continues to maintain his claim of ownership and has erected fences in certain parts of the village, in some cases, fencing off persons’ homes. In addition, he has been bullying, threatening and assaulting the residents.”
He noted that the Police have charged Lewis in relation to confrontation with some villagers.
The Attorney General said, due to complaints by residents, he led a team of representatives from the government that met with them on the issue. Present were Chairman Vickchand Ramphal and Vice Chairman Rion Peters of Region 5; Member of Parliament, Fizal Jafferally; and PPP/C member Harry Gill. He informed the residents that from all indications, the land is State Land and that the Government will regularise their occupation in due course.
Earlier this month, over 30 residents travelled from Kingelly to Georgetown to highlight their concerns over the dispute The residents had accused Lewis of a “barefaced” attempt to seize hundreds of acres of land at Kingelly already in their possession.
The villagers complained that this is despite their occupation of properties for decades. Sharmella Abel a resident of Kingelly for over 30 years said that their troubles started after Lewis claims of ancestral inheritance to Kingelly surfaced a few years ago. Abel divulged that she thought the matter had been put to rest after several persons from the community took steps to secure prescriptive title for the land.
She said this was until Lewis and two other persons, including a member of the Kingelly Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), joined in fencing large sections of the land, again claiming

The residents of Kingelly recently met with a team from Government to highlight their concerns

ancestral rights to the properties.
“He just come and start fence the lands that we using as pasture. When we tell he that he can’t do that, he say he got transport for the land. He say that his great grandfather de own de land but he ain’t produce no transport. He just come and claim that the land belongs to him and he is taking it,” she said.
Lewis on the other hand continues to contest that the village is part of his inheritance. During an appearance before a CoI into African ancestral land matters in 2017, Lewis made claims that his grandfather had owned the properties. Lewis reportedly produced a transport for the land but said there was no will to prove his inheritance.
He had explained “…That my great, great, great grandfather Kojo did not leave a will for his descendants is a matter of perspective in the era that he lived; that the absence of such document may have caused others not of his lineage to think that it is acceptable to claim land that they did not purchase nor could not have inherited. Our submission to this Commission is to have this injustice corrected.”