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Trevor Benn placed on $200,000 bail over alleged illegal land sale
Former GL&SC Commissioner, Trevor Benn.
Kaieteur News – Former Head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn, yesterday made his first court appearance, for the alleged illegal sale of six acres of land and was placed on $200,000 bail for the offence.
Benn, 53, of Century Palm Gardens, Georgetown, appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Senior Magistrate, Leron Daly.
He was not required to plead to the indictable offence, which alleged that between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2020, at GL&SC, Georgetown, while being a Public Officer, he willfully misconducted himself, by causing the sum of $27,000,000 to be paid by Janico Vide Industrial Engineering Limited for the lease of six acres of land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara, knowing that the GL&SC did not have the authority to lease any land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara.
It is also alleged that on March 27, 2020, Benn granted a Provisional Lease to Janico Vide Industrial Engineering Limited, and willfully misconducted himself thereby leading to a breach of the public’s trust.
According to reports, the land belonged to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and not GL&SC.
Senior Magistrate Daly, granted Benn bail in the sum of $200,000 and the matter was adjourned to March 31, 2021. It was also transferred to Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan’s, courtroom.
Benn was arrested on Wednesday last, after a probe was launched into the alleged illegal land sale. It is reported that despite the fact that the lands belonged to NICIL, Benn moved ahead to illegally leased the plot of land to a company called Janico Vide Engineering Limited for some $27M.
Kaieteur News had reported that the $27M transaction was made pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the company and GL&SC signed. That MoU dictated that the engineering company would lease the land for 50 years and pay $200,000 per acre annually.
Benn was appointed Commissioner of GL&SC in 2016 by the David Granger administration, and was granted presidential powers related to the sanctioning of renting and granting of leases, licences, and permission of occupancy of all public lands.
When the Irfaan Ali administration took office in August 2020, he was stripped of those powers and was later sent packing in November.
Following the revocation of his presidential powers, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., had stated that his government would review all the leases, licences and permissions to occupy Public Lands granted by GL&SC after the No Confidence Vote of December 2, 2018.
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