Home Top Stories Defunct Co-op members fail bid to stay court order instructing them to...
A group of former members of the now defunct Johns/Clifton Land Co-operative Society have lost their bid to stay a High Court ruling that ordered them to give up possession of over 300 acres of lands on the Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The land in question is some 315 acres located at Plantation Clifton and Johns, Corentyne, which was vested to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) – the agency with the authority to manage and control lands owned by the Government – by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). NICIL subsequently leased the land to the Co-op Society.
However, a series of legal challenges were spurred after NICIL attempted to recover the lands from the Society back in 2018.
The respondents in this matter – Kalamodian Haniff, Asheem Ali, Mohamed Ali Khan, Chandradat Ramotar, Azeez Ali Khan, Dularie Kunjbehari, Dianand Jhando, Syjit Kumar Ramotar and Lekhram Jagit – were part of the previous Johns/Clifton Land Co-operative Society to which NICIL had previously issued the land lease.
But the Co-op became defunct and an order of court made by Justice Gino Persaud ruled that the decision to resuscitate the co-op was illegal and void. As a result, the lease issued to the co-op was cancelled and the respondents became trespassers since the lease was issued only to the co-op.
With the court ruling that the they lacked legality, the respondents had no basis to be in possession of the land and despite being asked by NICIL to vacate the lands, the nine former co-op members continued to retain possession.
To this end, NICIL approached the High Court to recover the lands. On July 28, 2022, Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln ruled that the respondents are to give up possession of the lands and an injunction was granted against the respondents, who continue to retain possession.
However, the respondents filed an appeal against Justice Corbin-Lincoln’s decision and applied to the Full Court for a Stay of Execution on the ruling that ordered them to give up possession of the land.
But on Wednesday last, the respondents’ application was dismissed after they failed to secure a Stay of Execution.
The Full Court, which was presided over by Justices Navindra Singh and Nareshwar Harnanan, issued mandatory orders and will rule on the appeal of the High Court Judge’s decision in December.
NICIL was represented by Attorney-at-Law Deenawati Panday in these proceedings.
These lands were also the subject of another court battle back in 2018 when a group of 25 farmers filed legal proceedings in which they sought damages in excess of $48 million against the co-op for losses and destruction of property. The farmers, who were also former members of the Society and residents who farm at Plantation Clifton and Johns, claimed that they were forcefully and unlawfully evicted from the land by the co-op despite having owned transports for the land.
It was noted that the Johns/Clifton Land Co-operative Society was founded in excess of 50 years ago with 30 members along the Corentyne Public Road. Together, they built their homes and farmed the 350 acres of land that was allotted to them.
The lease expired and the Society subsequently approached the Government through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) to acquire title for the lands they occupy but were only given transports for portions of the land. However, they continued to plant rice and reared livestock and cattle on lands for which they had no transport.
In 2012, the Society became defunct and then in 2017, the lands were purportedly transferred under GuySuCo’s ownership including portions of the transported land, where houses are located.
That same year, the co-op was resuscitated without the knowledge of most of the previous members and they approached NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU) and reapplied for the lease, unknowingly to the other original members, and successfully reregistered the said Co-op Society – which the court had deemed illegal. (G8)
