Dear Editor,
The Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), Trevor Benn, admitted to the media that there is a backlog of over 32,000 land applications going back to the 1980s for which he blamed ‘the process for acquiring lands being too longwinded.’
So, after 37 years, nearly four decades, the GLSC’s Commissioner has found the fault. He needs to be complimented, it could have taken another four decades, but I am sure that the resolution of that problem will involve an inordinate length of time.
There is no doubt that the GLSC is badly managed and that the ‘longwinded process’ is the direct result of that. It does not need a crystal ball specialist to tell us that applicants who ‘greased the wheels of processing’ have their applications processed with lightning speed. Applicants, who wait on the process wait forever and many of these are in the ’32,000 bundle’. There is corruption at each branch of the GLSC and many of these officers in charge and their subordinate officers are adept at the processing of the applications of those who are willing to be corrupted. Some of these GLSC officials can be seen in their company at expensive restaurants and clubs in New Amsterdam and Corriverton. For too long the corruption within the GLSC has been given the green light and many organisations have turned a blind eye to it.
At the recent ‘GLSC Outreach’ at Corriverton, officials were seen collecting bribes in full view of the public and in his letter, Yusuf made mention of this. I was there and saw this. One overseas ‘investor’ had no time to change his US dollars and the officials accepted the US currency. If an investigation is done, it will be seen that certain persons are being given preference over others and it is the main reason for the horrendous backlog. The processing is not done in an organised and sequentially chronological manner. It is not on a first come first serve basis.
One of the functions of the GLSC is ‘to receive and evaluate offers to ‘purchase’ and ‘to let’ public lands and to issue for and on behalf of the President, grants, leases and permits to occupy such lands’. The GLSC Act also makes it mandatory ‘to establish and maintain liaison with all agencies’ in certain aspects and ‘to advise the Government on policies relating to public lands’. This being so required it is quite an enigma why the land policy as it relates to cattle farming is being so blatantly ignored? Both the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister said dairy and cattle farming should be promoted but not at the expense of those cattle farmers who are already utilising the #52/66 pasture. There are lands available elsewhere such as the #52 backlands which have been applied for by prospective and small cattle farmers who want to expand their cattle farming but nothing has been done so far to facilitate them. Some of these applications have been gathering cobwebs at the GLSC offices in Georgetown and Berbice since five years ago. These persons have been given ‘the royal run around’ because they have refused to be part of the corruption. Benn can check some of these applications for lands to do cattle and rice farming and ask himself the reason why these applications have not been processed.
The Commission is also required ‘to cooperate fully with all the Ministries, Government departments, agencies and other public authorities’. But unfortunately, even though these applicants would have gotten ‘no objection’ letters and letters of recommendations from the Regional Democratic Council in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), the processing takes forever. Moreover, in direct contradiction to the policy of the Government, the GLSC has taken it upon itself to invite offers to apply for lands already being utilised by cattle farmers. This shows the highhandedness of these GLSC officials who feel that they are beyond reproach and can operate in complete disregard for Government land policies.
I do firmly believe that the Government must start a massive investigation into the corrupt practices and do a massive reshuffling and I do feel that the present Commissioner has no vision to transform the current monolithic structure and organisation of the Commission.
Yours sincerely,
Muhammad Mustapha
