New Commissioner of Lands and Surveys takes office today

Trevor Benn, the new Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Lands and Surveys

New board
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon addressing the preliminary meeting of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission Wednesday afternoon in the Commission’s boardroom

Commission (GL&SC), will commence work today.
Benn, who was previously a Senior Land Developer at the Commission, was most recently a Programme Analyst with responsibility for governance and poverty at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
On Wednesday, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon made the announcement at a preliminary meeting of the Board of Directors of the GL&SC at the Commission’s D’Urban Backlands location, where he said that the Commission was well poised to advance its work in the administration of State lands.
At the meeting, the Minister used the opportunity to welcome the Board members and the Observers, who were drawn from the various Government Ministries and departments, and expressed confidence that their varied expertise and experience will promote the work of the Commission.
“I trust that with the composition of this Board, the blend of experience from academia, from business, of persons who are in legal practice, persons who are in private land surveying, that you bring that total blend of skills [to] make the Commission what it was meant to be,” Minister Harmon said.
Incoming Commissioner Benn, who was not at the meeting, met with President David Granger Wednesday afternoon and said, in an invited comment following that meeting, that he was both pleased to accept the appointment and with the confidence that the President has reposed in him.
He said he intended to use his knowledge and experience “to help to bring about some changes to the way we see land and use land in Guyana”, adding that “it is not acceptable for people to be waiting exceptionally long for a piece of land.”
With regard to his immediate plans, Benn said he intended to make priority issues related to policy, the backlog of lease allocations and those related to the welfare of the Commission’s staff.
The Board of Directors has agreed to meet once per month and the next full meeting is scheduled for May 19 when a time and date for monthly meetings will be made statutory.
The Board will be chaired by Paulette Henry, Lecturer, Head of the Department of Sociology and Interim Director of Gender Studies at the University of Guyana and will include Rawle Small, CEO, Habitat for Humanity Guyana Incorporated; Patsy Ross, former Programme Officer at the UNDP; Lieutenant Colonel Ramkarran Doodnauth of the Guyana Defence Force, Commander at Base Camp Stephenson; Joel Trotman, Civil Engineer/Land Surveyor; Maurice Gajadhar, CEO of New Timehri Handling Services Incorporated; Wilfred Brandford, local hotel entrepreneur; Randy Storm, Executive Manager at Banks DIH Limited; Clayton Hall, former Commissioner of Forests at the Guyana Forestry Commission and Programme Director at Conservation International, now of the Natural Resources and the Environment Ministry; Kevin Samad, Civil Engineer in the Public Infrastructure Ministry; Leon Rutherford, Manager of Surveys, GL≻ Rawle Edinboro, Chief Development Planner, Central Housing and Planning Authority and Carol James, Surveyor.