250 Melanie families set to receive land titles ahead of “Model Village” works

Some 250 families of Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara (ECD) are expected to receive titles to the lands that they are currently occupying ahead of planned works under the “Model Village” initiative.
This is according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, who, on Wednesday, led a team to the community to resume a land regularisation exercise for properties occupied by members of the Vigalstra Co-operative Society.

The State-owned lands, which are being used for housing, have been occupied by the families for several decades without formal titles being issued. Upon completion of the regularisation process, approximately 250 families are expected to receive legal titles to the lands they currently occupy.
Nandlall noted that this regularisation exercise commenced in 2024. “We did a lot of work already; we did a survey, an occupational survey and we have documented the persons who are in occupation of the lands…we have that information, most of it we have and we need to complete that and then in relation to the vacant lots, I believe we have most of the names of the persons to whom those lots, by your own agreement, will be allotted…we are now to finalise all these arrangements,” he informed those gathered at Wednesday’s outreach.
Nandlall further noted that the swift completion of this initiative was heavily dependent on individual cooperation.
“When we ready to conclude/do some other aspect [of the process], you may have to pull a fence, pull your bridge, adjust some form of your occupation because you may be occupying out of line. And that’s a small sacrifice that you’ll have to make to become compliant so the title can be issued,” he explained.
Moreover, the Attorney General emphasised that the majority of the costs associated with this exercise is being borne by the Government.
“If you pay any money, it’s a small sum of money, processing fees. The Government is bearing the cost of the titling process…, then you got to retain lawyers and you got to pay court fees and a whole set of process you got to go through [but] Government is taking care all of that for you, and in the end, you’ll get your title,” he posited, noting that the Government is committed to empowering citizens.
“There is no greater way of empowering people than giving them the opportunity to own land, land that you have title for,” he expressed.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Labour and Manpower Planning Minister Keoma Griffith, who accompanied the Attorney General during the engagements. Minister Griffith expressed that “we want to live in a Guyana where we all can have wealth and of course, nothing signifies wealth more than immovable property”.
Melanie is among the villages selected to participate in the pilot “Model Village” initiative. According to Nandlall, the aim is to complete the land regularisation process before infrastructure works commence.
Through the pilot initiative, Melanie, along with 22 other communities, will benefit from improvements to drainage, roads, public spaces, utilities and community infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General noted that the Government is in the process of regularising other areas across the country. Among them are five villages on the West Coast of Berbice (WCB), four on the Essequibo Coast, and three on the ECD — Melanie, Vigilance and Foulis.