Freddie got it wrong

Mar 28, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,
In his daily Kaieteur News column of Feb 16, 2022, under the caption Part IV, Entitlement and Betrayal, Freddie Kissoon surely displayed some amount of recklessness, in the quotation below.
The NDC of Beterverwagting (BV) sold John Fernandes Ltd, 134 acres of land for 35 million Guyana dollars. That is about $240, 000 per acre. There isn’t any parcel or plot of land in Guyana where an acre of land is less than five million dollars.
The NDC of BV is all-African and elected under the PNC ticket in the 2018 local government elections. It is closely associated with ACDA and is part of the annual emancipation festival. BV is 99 percent an African village. The land was not sold to an African family but a Portuguese one. After the price tag was made public, the NDC cancelled the sale agreement. There hasn’t been one word about this transaction from those who advocate African entitlement.
More importantly, no African-rights activist has put forward the suggestion that if the NDC could have contemplated selling the land for $240, 000 per acre then now that the deal is cancelled why not sell it to BV residents and African Guyanese elsewhere. I am absolutely sure if the NDC round off the price at $300,000 per acre, literally thousands of African-Guyanese would rush to buy.
First off, the name of the NDC is BV/Triumph and it is not all African as Freddie (the Lecturer/Teacher) wishes his readers to learn. He also confuses the fact that in matters of Land, there is no SALE until the final documents are handed over. This includes a TRANSPORT. FJL entered into an Agreement of sale, with the BV/Triumph NDC (not BV – NDC) they bought nothing, Freddie.
Yes, Africans may make up 99% of BVs population but Freddie is silent on the 40 or so percent of Indians in the community of BV/Triumph. Freddie went on to say that the NDC is closely associated with ACDA, because it participates in the Annual Emancipation Festival. I would categorically say that that inference of Mr. Kissoon is simply a scene from one of his dreams. I am from Triumph and also a member of ACDA, and would say without fare of contradiction that none of those on the council at the time that Agreement of Sale was made has any association with ACDA. Further, as far back as I can remember Emancipation was celebrated in my family and community, long before the existence of ACDA.
Also, for Mr. or is it Dr. Kissoon to write in February about this event and not do any research as to why JFL walked away from the deal is really pathetic, since he is a Social Scientist. Had he questioned anyone from BV/Triumph who is knowledgeable about our backlands he would have been told the lands are privately owned and not Councils property. Hence in his reliance on hearsay or maybe an attempt at being malicious he advanced the hypothesis that …no African Rights Activist …and African Guyanese elsewhere. That that was not possible for we all knew it, would have been an exercise in futility. Freddie’s failure to hear what people concerned said about the entitlement of the Villagers of BV/Triumph is surely saying that he was/is not on phase with events in BV/Triumph. May I remind him that it was because of those voices JFL walked away. In closing I do hope that Freddie would MAN UP and express an apology, since he was wrong. Also please note (Freddie) I would not be engaged in a to and fro in an attempt to demonstrate your relevance.
Regards,
Elton McRae

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