Government yesterday said that all public land deals made by the APNU+AFC administration since December 21st, 2018, when a no-confidence motion was passed against it, are to be reviewed.
The move coincided with the announcement by Attorney General Anil Nandlall that powers that were delegated to the Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) by former president David Granger, to allow for the “sanctioning of renting and granting of leases, licences and permission of occupancy of all public lands,” had been revoked with immediate effect yesterday by President Irfaan Ali.
Nandlall said in a statement that a review of all leases, licences and permissions to occupy public lands, granted since the 21st day of December, 2018, would be conducted.
He noted that the APNU+AFC coalition government had only “caretaker status” since the passage of the no-confidence motion against it on that date.
Meanwhile, GL&SC Commissioner Trevor Benn told the Stabroek News that he would have to abide by the new president’s decision. “It is the president’s prerogative to give and take these powers. President Granger had given them to me and it seems now that the current president has taken them. He has the right to decide who gets which powers and who he feels can manage the assets best,” he said.
Benn explained that Granger had granted the powers to him in an effort to speed up land lease allocations as there has been a number of complaints about the sloth and inefficiency of the agency.
Benn said that when he took over GL&SC in 2016, he helped speed up the processing of lands for many persons and “turned around the agency” to one that went from revenue generation of $300 million to billions currently.
“We moved from $300 million to a bringing in billions and our budget this year was $1.6 billion from our internal revenue. That happened because all of the decisions were made at GL&SC and we were able to speed up the processing for many, although there are still some persons who will point out that they have been waiting for years,” he pointed out.
Asked what his next step is, Benn noted that his contract expires in March of 2022 but said that staying on with the agency is a decision he will discuss with his family. “I have not decided as yet what I will do and it will be a decision that myself and family will make with our best interest at heart,” he explained.
Last year, then opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo had accused the GL&SC of facilitating a land grab following the passage of the no-confidence motion, which Benn had denied, while saying that operations of the agency under his watch could withstand scrutiny. “At the commission, we exercise zero tolerance for corruption and our record speaks for itself,” he told a news conference where he addressed the claims.
