High Court orders GNIC to vacate Charlestown wharf, enforces NICIL’s ownership

The High Court has ruled in favour of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Lim-ited (NICIL) in its long-running property dispute with the Guyana National Industrial Company Inc (GNIC) and International Fishing Investment Company Limited (IFI). The judgement, deliv-ered on December 10, 2025, by Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln, addressed claims for possession, trespass, and damages related to properties situated at Area “X”, Charlestown, Georgetown.
NICIL’s claim arose from a lease agreement originally executed between the Guyana National Engineering Company (GNEC) and GNIC in 1995, later assigned to NICIL through a supplemental lease agreement in 2002. The lease stipulated a 15-year term with an option for renewal and an annual rent of $70.5 million. NICIL alleged that GNIC failed to deliver possession of the property after the lease expired on November 1, 2010, and that IFI had unlawfully occupied part of the property since 1996.

GNIC argued that it had properly exercised the lease renewal option in 2009 and claimed NICIL was estopped from asserting the lease had expired, citing substantial improvements made to the property at its own cost. The company also contended that any arrears of rent prior to Jan-uary 2019 were statute-barred.
In its defence, NICIL maintained that GNIC was in breach of lease conditions at the time it sought to exercise the renewal option. Breaches included failure to pay rent and arbitration awards, unauthorised subletting of portions of the property, and non-payment of insurance premiums. NICIL argued that these breaches invalidated GNIC’s request to extend the lease and that the company was required to vacate the premises upon the lease’s expiration.
Justice Corbin-Lincoln ruled that GNIC had failed to meet the conditions precedent for renewing the lease. Specifically, the court found that GNIC was in subsisting breach of its obligations to pay rent and not to sublet without NICIL’s consent. As a result, the court determined that the lease ended on November 1, 2010, and that GNIC thereafter held the property as a statutory tenant under the Rent Restriction Act.

Regarding NICIL’s request for possession, the court ordered GNIC to deliver up possession of the property by June 12, 2026. The court also clarified that GNIC’s claim for mesne profits failed, as statutory tenants are not considered trespassers. Claims for an accounting of rental income from subletting were dismissed due to insufficient evidence of a fiduciary relationship or con-tractual obligation.
In relation to IFI, the court found that the company had occupied the Sussex Street Wharf por-tion of the property without NICIL’s consent since 1996 and had failed to provide evidence of lawful tenancy. IFI was declared a trespasser and ordered to vacate the property by February 27, 2026. The court awarded NICIL damages for trespass at a rate of $2 million per year from 1996 to 2025, totalling $58 million, with continued damages accruing at the same rate until possession is delivered.
Cost orders were also made. GNIC was ordered to pay prescribed costs of $10 million, while IFI was ordered to pay discretionary costs of $250,000. NICIL is required to serve the order on IFI by December 19, 2025.
NICIL was represented by attorneys Devindra Kissoon, Natasha Vieira and Abhimanyu Dev, while GNIC was represented by Neil Boston, SC; Roysdale Forde, SC; and Olayne Joseph.