Linden business community wants reform in allocation of lands for investment

…says investors are delayed by slothful system

The business community in Linden on Friday called for a reform in the way properties and lands are allocated for investment during a meeting between the President of the Linden Chamber of Industry Commerce and Development (LCICD), Victor Fernandes and Business Minister Dominic Gaskin.
The meeting was set up by the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN) to address the issues that affect business development in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and to commemorate the third annual business conference.
The President of the Chamber, while highlighting the fact that a number of investors have expressed interest in expanding businesses in Linden, said the sector seems not to be working.
Fernandes said the Chamber would like to see reform in the way properties and lands are allocated for business investment, adding that investors are made to wait years given the slothful nature of the system.
“We would have had a number of investors indicating their willingness to invest in Linden…we were expressing concerns with regards to the processes…One of the things that we would like to see is that there be a reform with regards to allocation of properties because many of these businesses have to go through a long process, wait a number of years before they can implement the programme. This would stymie the whole investment, per se because it’s crucial that initially what persons would like to have is properties being allocated or a portion of land might be required…No investor would have his resource and be waiting…naturally they would gravitate to another area where they would be easily facilitated,” he expressed.
Fernandes also outlined that there is a current backlog of thousands of applications in the system, which he complained were in the system for too long.
According to him, the business sector there was quite pleased with the announcement with regards to the implementation of 20 per cent being set aside for small businesses in Guyana. Prior to this, he said many were at a disadvantage and he is hoping that benefits would be as pronounced as was announced.
Minister Gaskin in his response, acknowledged that the issue of acquiring lands for investment is nothing new.