“Squatting is not a poor people thing” – GLSC Head

…says tough action to be taken against offenders

The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) plans to ramp up its work to remove squatters from across the country, as it has now been inundated with reports of incidents with affluent people in society also being accused of partaking in this illegal practice.

GLSC Commissioner Trevor Benn told Guyana Times on Tuesday that it has been observed by the Commission that there have been rampant squatting taking place along the reserves in Georgetown. Benn said along the area stretching from Bourda to Mandela Avenue every single land owner has extended their fence.
“And these are people with knowledge, money and who should understand that they should not squat. One of them is a senior businessman, who even went to the courts to prescribe for the land,” he explained. He added that as a result of this illegal act, the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown did not have access to clean the reserve which is posing a major problem to keeping the area clean.
Benn said, “So, squatting is not a poor people thing. It’s everybody squatting. It has become rampant and it has to stop and we will go after people as much as we can. We have a no-compromise policy when it comes to squatting.
“People should not squat. The law said so,” he asserted.
The Commissioner noted that the GLSC recognised that people have been forced in many cases to squat because of the length of time it takes to process land application. “We have applications here dating back to the early 1990s that haven’t been processed and we have hundreds of new applications we receive from new applicants, so we are under pressure,” he told this publication.
According to him, in an effort to move on with their lives, some of these applicants have taken it upon themselves to squat. “However, this is not just people who are really desperate for a piece of land and they squatting, many business people with lots of money, with lots of land already owned, have been squatting forcing their way on lands and we have seen that only recently here,” he further added.
The Commission said it observed that there was a significant increase in squatting along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway and in Port Kaituma among other areas. Squatting has taken place on lands already leased for industrial, commercial and residential land use, and on reserves, which constrain development of some areas and delay processing of land applications.
The Lands Commission also observed that squatting has been facilitated by persons illegally selling lands in various areas and squatters pay money without receiving titles or agreement for the lands. The Commission has said that all squatters, including those who are encouraging squatting, would be prosecuted and new squatter settlements would not be regularised.