The Guyana Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (GCCD) is accusing the City Council of years of harassment saying it has been subjected to “many things” because it has stood up to the council in an ongoing land lease dispute.
GCCD said it has been pleading with the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to renew a lease which expired in 1997 to facilitate a project which it had been fighting to execute ten years prior to the lease expiration, but the M&CC refused and has been seeking to repossess the land.
GCCD said it has been striving to create economic opportunities for its members since its initiation, noting that it started an ambitious project more than 20 years ago to set up a company that would be responsible for the creation and development of income-generating opportunities.
“We are not adversaries to the M&CC. We never were and never will be. What we are asking for is for both parties to sit down so that an amicable solution can be reached. We have a building on the land they are trying to take from us,” President of the GCCD, Julie Lewis told reporters yesterday. She said the organisation is no match for the M&CC. According to her, the situation is not even like “David and Goliath”, but more like “Goliath and David’s fourth cousin”.
Lewis and other members of the GCCD revealed yesterday that a building was constructed on the land the organisation leased from the city and after that building fell into disrepair, another building was constructed. The body set up a company called Diverse Industries of Citizens with Disabilities (DICD) to spearhead its first project, a hatchery scheme. The business got off the ground but it went under some time after.
Lewis said international donors are willing to fund other projects, but GCCD is unable to secure any funds because of the ongoing land dispute. She said the M&CC has threatened to eject the body from the land today and that the council has also filed a court action, which is also expected to come up today. “We can’t fight them. We can’t even afford a lawyer because of how bad things are. And what is happening to us should not be happening, not after the Disability Act has passed,” Lewis said.
Mayor Hamilton Green told Stabroek News yesterday that the council has no problem with renewing the lease and reaching an amicable solution with the GCCD. However, he said the organisation has been less then honest as it relates to what the land has been used for. Green said the council has been firm on repossessing the land because the body is not using it for the purposes intended. He said the body has been renting the building out and drawing a monthly rent.
Green said the council has not seen a penny of the rent being collected, adding that the lease does not permit the body to conduct the kind of business it is engaging in currently. He also stated that the building is in a state of disrepair, adding that the council is interested in repossessing it because of what is going on. He reiterated that rental on the land is inconsistent with the terms of the lease.
Cecil Morris, a GCCD member, joined Lewis in saying that the M&CC has been treating the organisation poorly since the lease expired. He said they were asked to submit a proposal of a work plan before the lease was renewed, but after it was submitted the council “conveniently misplaced it”. He said the work plan outlined ideas for a rehab facility and a day care centre among other things.
Morris said M&CC has been pushing around the organisation since 1997 and promised to renew the lease but has failed to do so. He said they are not happy with the treatment meted out, noting that for years the council has made attempts to evict them. “We have called in the press every time they threatened to throw us off and they backed off,” he said. According to him, persons with disabilities should be given the opportunity to access funding through the organisation and to be allowed to benefit from the opportunities the body is trying to create. He added that the council will try to move against the organisation again, but that it will continue to fight.
“We are appealing to persons out there to stand with us. We are appealing to attorneys to support us in the court challenge because we need any help,” Lewis added. She said they have also attempted to raise the matter at the level of the Ministry of Local Government to no avail.
