Guyana Lands and Surveys Commissioner Trevor Benn, who has been on leave since September amid the revelations of a slew of questionable land sales emanating from his agency, has finally been given his marching orders.
It was confirmed that Benn has been terminated with effect from February 4, 2021, well ahead of when his contract was scheduled to end. In a letter from the Office of the President, he was informed by the Permanent Secretary that he was being given advanced notice of the termination of his contract.
Benn, who was appointed back in 2016 and formerly worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was also asked to return any property belonging to the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.
Under various pieces of legislation, the President of Guyana is allowed to delegate a number of powers vested in him. These legislations include the State Lands Act and the Lands Department Act in respect of sanctioning of renting and granting of leases, licences and permission of occupancy of all public lands, to the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, exercisable by the Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.
After assuming office in 2015, former President David Granger in 2016 had delegated his powers of approving and issuing leases and licenses of State lands to Benn, in his then capacity as Lands and Surveys Commissioner.
One of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government’s first acts in August was to revoke Benn’s powers to approve and issue leases and licences, or to grant permission for occupancy of State lands. He was then sent on leave, after doing a handover statement to his successor Enrique Monize.
Terminated: Former EPA, Director Dr Vincent Adams
This publication had reported a few days ago that a slew of land transactions done by the GL&SC, which resulted in certificates of titles being issued to persons for lands sold under market value, are currently under review by the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
These cases bear similarities to the distribution of land by another agency, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). Already, a number of persons have been arrested and questioned regarding the sale of land under similar circumstances by NICIL.
It has been revealed that the former APNU/AFC Government vested almost 100 acres of prime State land at Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD), to eight different companies. All told, the total value of the lands is some $2.9 billion, but NICIL received only approximately $64 million in payments.
NICIL is also taking flak for the leasing of several plots of land at Peters Hall by two companies, A-Z Pharmaceuticals headed by Eddie Doolall and Life 1 Pharms Incorporated headed by Avalon Jagnanan. These lands were leased and then flipped for a profit.
Of interest too is the fact that in both lease agreements, a clause was deliberately modified to state that “the lessee may divest the land, may part with possession, may assign it to a third-party interest”.
However, Guyana’s State Lands Act stipulates that whenever State lands are leased, the lease agreement must indicate that the lessee “shall not” part with lands (possession) or “shall not” assign the interest in the said agreement without the consent of the State.
EPA
Meanwhile, Dr Vincent Adams, who formerly worked as the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has also been terminated from the agency as of Monday.
It was confirmed that Dr Adams received his letter of termination on Monday. He had been on leave since August, following the change of Government.
Dr Adams, an executive member of the Alliance For Change (AFC), is an energy expert and scientist who has a PhD in Environmental Engineering and is a PhD Candidate in Petroleum and Geological Engineering, among other oil-related qualifications.
He acquired 30 years of service in the US Department of Energy (DoE) Environmental Management, including 10 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service Corps (highest ranking civilians, equivalent to the military Generals running the daily operations of Government) heading offices in both headquarters and the field.
When Dr Adams was first sent on leave, President Dr Irfaan Ali had indicated his interest in having the Government engage him at a professional level. At the same time, however, Ali had reminded of Adams’ political links with the former governing coalition.
