The Guyana Association of Legal Practitioners says that a letter written by Registrar of Lands, Juliet Sattaur and published in the press and which related to procedures at the Land Registry is inaccurate and in light of this, is calling for a full investigation.
In a press release, the association charged that the statements relating to procedures at the Land Registry as outlined by Sattaur are inaccurate. This newspaper was unable to get in touch with Sattaur for comment yesterday.
In the letter which was also published in the July 17 edition of Stabroek News, Sattaur had responded to an article in this newspaper which related to a Berbice Land Registry employee being arrested and placed on ‘self-bail’ as police investigated the forgery of an attorney’s signature.
In her letter, Sattaur had said that a transfer had been filed by one Shondell Yearwood to P. Heeralall. Sattaur had written that on proceeding to check the transfer, the clerk noticed there were no witnesses on the document. She said that Dhanela Chandiprasad, (attorney) Adrian Anamayah’s clerk was in the registry and the clerk asked her how come they were filing transfers without witnesses and he requested her to sign as one.
“This practice is not unusual, for if he sees a lawyer’s clerk in or out of the registry he would tell them their documents have been queried”, Sattaur wrote in her letter. Noting that the article had gone on to state “the clerk subsequently cancelled the receipt even through there are procedures to do so through the court”, Sattaur said that the clerk cannot cancel the receipt, which is the job of the cashier who is employed with Deeds Registry. “My permission was sought by the land registry clerk to do so; I consented as is the standard procedure”, she had written.
She added that the documents in question were returned to Yearwood as they were not recorded in the presentation book and property register. “I realize this is a ‘set up’ to get rid of me and the registry clerk as we do not bow to people’s wishes but do our job honestly, sincerely and to the best of our ability”, she wrote.
Yesterday, the Legal Practitioners Association declared that Sattaur has no authority to instruct or to cancel a receipt issued and for which monies are received and deposited into the state’s account, days after the transaction was done.
The Association in a release signed by 16 of its members contended that once documents are filed and receipts issued, the documents remain the property of the Lands Registry, for which the registry is accountable. Further, the association said, to discontinue a matter there ought to be a written request by the attorney, whose name is on the receipt/record and “a mere cancellation of the receipt is illegal”.
The legal body also said that to obtain a refund of monies, a written request to the Accountant-General with valid reasons ought to be made by the attorney-at-law and declared that “the unilateral decision of Ms. J. Sattaur to cancel the receipt (issued) days after is illegal and contrary to standard accounting practice and principles.”
Further, the association asserted that the only persons authorized to file documents at the Land Registry are the attorneys-at-law and the Clerks registered and authorized to do so.
The association said that an investigation must be carried out, pointing out that some comments made in the letter including Sattaur’s authorization of the cancellation of the receipt and that the documents were returned to Yearwood “raises eyebrows”. The association asked that Sattaur be relieved from duty until the investigations are completed.
The lawyers who signed the press release are Joseph Anamayah, Ramesh Rajkumar, Rodwell Jugmohan, Rohan Chandan, Marcel C. Crawford, Michael Baird, Perry Gossai, Joel Edmond, Johnny Persaud, Deena Panday, Charrandass Persaud, Motie Singh, Lloyd L. Thomas, Ian Anamayah, Adrian Anamayah and M Sahadat.
