Dear Editor,
Rather than providing answers, a letter from the Ministry of Works in response to one of mine, has provided the basis for more questions. I am referring to the letter from the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Balraj Balram captioned ‘Demolition by ministry is done in a systematic way’ in the Stabroek News issue of November 4.
Whether “illegal occupation of the state reserves started long before the present Administration took office” or not, is not the issue. The issue is that illegal occupation of some prime reserves by the rich has been condoned by this government on the one hand and selected demolition of buildings on reserves have been employed against the poor, on the other hand.
Those targeted so far in this campaign of which Works Minister Robeson Benn promised will be an ongoing one, are hardly people of means and material. They are, in the main, poor people who, because of circumstances, have been forced to build a shack and sell oddities to put food on the table for families living well below the poverty line. Some even live in these shacks because there is nowhere to go.
The campaign has so far failed to knock over the huge businesses and buildings established on very prime reserves; the M&M operations next to the Harbour Bridge and at the junction leading into the Diamond Housing Scheme being two ultra prime examples. Now, we are told that some of these businesses including the “M&M snackette chain on the East Bank Demerara” are built on lands which have been “lawfully acquired” and, according to Mr Balram, “the ministry had no part in their acquisition.” The lands on which the M&M snackettes at the entrances to the Harbour Bridge and Diamond Housing Scheme are built were obtained under the rule of the PPP administration, not the PNC.
One can recall that hire car drivers were kicked out of the reserve land at Diamond where they parked so that a snackette could be established. Mr Balram seems to have investigated the process leading to the acquisition of these lands by the owners which caused him to say that his ministry was not involved. I wish to advise both him and those who facilitated the acquisition of the land on which sits the M&M Snackette at Peter’s Hall (opposite the Harbour Bridge) that this area was a drainage canal constructed for the sole purpose of assisting in draining the conservancy and backwaters from nearby villages.
The canal, which is presently being further filled-in by M&M, was not regular land on which squatting was done. This particular canal formed part of the drainage network in the area and was connected to the bigger drainage network in the region. A koker under the main road next to the M&M establishment as well as the canal outlet to the Demerara River, west of the main road, are still there, but no longer of any use.
The drainage expert in the days when the canal was constructed, saw the need for a drainage canal in that particular area. Another is located to the north between Bagotstown and Eccles and to the south next to Princess Buddy Hotel at Providence. More pressure has been brought on those two canals since M&M filled the one on which the business is located. This is resulting in flooding in the contiguous areas which were supposed to be serviced by this canal.
What M&M obviously did, in collaboration with those who facilitated the transaction, was to apply for prescriptive title for a drainage canal, part of which it filled some years ago and is now completing the exercise of filling the remaining part and constructing a humongous four-storey building thereon.
So, having done his investigation which revealed no complicity on his ministry’s part, Mr Balram must provide us the details of the process and the documentation which was used for the legalizing of an illegality.
Even if we are told that M&M legally bought the land from the previous ‘owner, if that was the case, the fact is that it happened, whether or not under this administration, and the illegality of buying a reserved dam and filling a state drainage canal cannot be legalized. There are laws in our country to deal with such corrupt practices and illegalities. The law allows for action to be taken now to correct an illegality of the past. There is no statute of limitations to bar the government if it wants to ensure a fair and equitable process in its demolition campaign and ensure that there are “no sacred cows.”
Drainage of our lands, especially the housing areas, is something which has been engaging our resources for as long as we can remember. There can be no doubt that Mr Balram’s administration has been continuously spending significant sums to ensure a good drainage network. On the other hand, Mr. Balram must be aware that the government presently has to find an additional US$1.2M to fund additional outlets to drain the water from our lands to prevent flooding, yet a private business has been allowed to fill one of the main canals constructed many, many years ago for this specific purpose.
The precedent of people of means acquiring state lands with the help of those in power sets the foundation for further lawlessness.
Are we to also believe that Mr Balram’s ministry did not play a role in awarding further state reserves to a real estate ‘developer’ for the construction of several residential buildings exactly south of the southern perimeter fence of the Providence Stadium, in addition to have ‘gifted’ the said individual with more reserves on the East Bank Demerara?
With reference to the “encroachment” of state reserves by the Two Brothers Gas Station at Eccles, can Mr Balram explain to us what he means by “action is being taken to correct this situation”? Can he outline the definitive action which will be taken against this gas station, if any notification was served, and when, and how soon are we going to see the government reclaiming the reserve?
It is becoming clearer that the national interest is being sacrificed in Guyana and those with the financial means are having their say and way with government reserves while the very poor with nowhere to go and nothing to do are being evicted from those very reserves.
This is the type of arrogance and contempt the poor of this nation have to face in this troubled land.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed I Ally
