Former GL&SC Head Trevor Benn arrested in land giveaway probe

6 acres unmarked Ogle lands

The Guyana Police Force has arrested former Head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn, over the giveaway of some six acres of unmarked lands at Ogle, East Coast Demerara.

The Police were called in last month to probe the transaction, for which some $27 million was paid to the GL&SC but no land was marked to be allocated.
Benn was taken in on Wednesday morning for questioning into the leasing of the unidentified lands to Janico Industrial Engineering Limited, a company located at Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
Late yesterday afternoon, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told <<Guyana Times>> that the former GL&SC boss was still in custody and that the investigation was “ongoing”.
Benn is being accused of defrauding the State by inducing persons by false pretense, knowing that the land in question is owned by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).
This issue came to light last month following examination of the transaction by the current GL&SC administration, after a legal notice was received from the company’s lawyers in December 2020 demanding the six acres of land be handed over.
It was revealed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the company and Benn in May 2017 for the land to be leased to the company for commercial, industrial and real estate purposes.
According to the agreement, the company was obligated to make the payments in two instalments of $13.5 million, the first upon the signing of the MoU and the balance in November 2017, or upon the receipt of the lease.
The MoU states, “The purpose of this MOU is to…confirm the intent and commitment of the GL&SC and the company for the leasing of the said 6 acres of land, owned by the Government of Guyana as part of the stock of State Land, and upon payment of $27,000,000.00 (twenty-seven million dollars) for the development of commercial, industrial and real estate activities.”
However, it is unclear what the money was paid for, since a rental fee of $200,000 annually was also agreed upon in the MoU for the lands that were leased for 50 years.
In a letter dated December 22, 2020, the law firm of Hughes, Fields & Stoby disclosed that “…it was agreed by the MOA (Ministry of Agriculture) that the consideration for the said lease would be the sum of $27M…”
The lawyers noted that this sum was paid in full as per the MoU; that is, the first payment on May 4, 2017 and the second on March 27, 2020. Despite this, however, the lawyers said, the company has not received the lands.
“We are instructed that the GL&SC informed our client that before it could identify the precise area of the lease, the GL&SC would have to carry out a cadastral survey of the area.
Accordingly, on our client making the second payment requested by the GL&SC on the aforesaid 27th day of March, 2020, it was awarded a Provisional Lease pursuant to Regulation 7(1) of the Regulations to the State Lands Act, Cap. 61:01 of the laws of Guyana. Our client was informed that the precise or final boundaries of the leasehold area would be established upon the completion of the aforesaid cadastral survey by the GL&SC,” the law firm noted.
“We are instructed that despite several months having elapsed since the time of payment of the balance, and the execution of the Provisional Lease between the GL&SC and our client, and despite several promises by the GL&SC to expeditiously complete its survey and execute a full State Land Lease in our client’s favour, stating the defined boundaries of the leasehold area, our client has been unable to secure this up to the present time.”
Against this backdrop, the lawyers had demanded that the Commission issue six acres of land to Janico Industrial Engineering Limited within 14 days, otherwise legal proceedings would be instituted to compel it to do so.
However, this newspaper understands that there is no procedure under the State Lands Act that allows for a MoU to be signed before a lease or provisional lease is granted.
Moreover, acting Commissioner of GL&SC, Enrique Monzie, has stated that upon research, he was unable to determine any vacant available land under the control of the Commission at the location agreed upon.
He explained in a correspondence to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, in which he was seeking legal advice that Plantation Ogle has always been the property of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), except for lands that were handed over to the Government for the Ogle Airport and to Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) for any schemes. He added that the lands at the rear of Ogle were previously State Lands leased also to GuySuCo but now vested to NICIL.
In response, AG Nandlall expressed the view that since GL&SC has no ostensible authority over the lands promised in the provisional lease, the issue has raised serious criminal law implications, and may amount to the commission of several criminal offences.
To this end, he has recommended that the Police be brought in to probe the transaction. (G8)