Jagdeo alleges prime lands giveaway to gov’t officials, supporters

A map showing the 1,000 acres of land awarded to Eric Phillips in the Essequibo River.

While Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday claimed the APNU+AFC government has been in a “mad rush” to allocate prime state lands to key officials and alleged supporters since the December 21st no-confidence vote, Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) Trevor Benn has labelled his statements as misinformation.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Jagdeo identified several state employees, including the Head of Project Management Office at the Ministry of Presidency Marlon Bristol and State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) Special Assistant Eric Phillips, as having been beneficiaries of a “wanton and obscene gathering of land”  that could be developed into shore-based facilities.

As a result, he declared that any oil company which does business with any of the beneficiaries is an “enemy” of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.