Collymore, now the Ministerial Advisor in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, also revealed that government has taken legal action against M&M Snackette as a result of its actions.
In a letter published in the Sunday Stabroek, Collymore took issue with letters written by Mohamed Ally and Balraj Balram, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works, as it relates to the filling in of the drainage canal by M&M. Ally in his letter wrote, “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.”
In his letter yesterday, Collymore explained that the owners of M&M bought land from the Guyana Sugar Corporation in 2004. “Included in that parcel of land was/is a functioning drainage canal. Guysuco officials ought to have known that the drainage canal should have been excluded from the transport. For that error, the responsible official was scolded,” he said noting that any lawyer would advise that ignorance is no excuse.
Collymore disclosed that the legal anomaly came to the attention of the Ministry of Local Government, when the Eccles Ramsburg Neighbourhood Democratic Council protested to the Minister and complained that M&M not only encroached on seven feet of NDC reserve, but started to fill in the drainage canal without permission.” I can testify to the fact that no permission was given, because I was the Minister to have given permission and I gave none”, he stated.
According to Collymore, when management of M&M was notified that the drainage canal is active and cannot be filled in, “they trotted out the transport, alerted their lawyers and persisted”. He said that he personally spoke to a top M&M management official, who came to discuss the matter with him at the Ministry. “In the process of our conversation, I insisted to him that the drainage canal should not be filled in. Apparently neither of us convinced each other”.
Collymore went on to say that as preparations for the erection of a “mammoth structure” proceeded on site, he drew the attention of management to Section 147 of the Local Government Act, Chapter 28:02 which clearly identified the proposed filling-in operation as an offence. He said that the official called again at his office for talks and explained that he is not proceeding with the huge structure, but would be erecting a much smaller edifice as a ‘snackette.’ To this day the NDC insists that the snackette is encroaching on NDC reserves, Collymore said adding that he could not recall giving any permission for anyone to occupy the NDC reserve.
Additionally, according to the Ministerial Advisor, a pledge by the M&M owner to provide an adequate passage for drainage water en route to the Demerara River has now left much to be desired. “The promised six feet wide concrete drain is nowhere to be seen.
A huge three-storey structure is going up on site. This area is prone to flooding. In 2004 residents had filed a writ against the NDC claiming several million dollars in flood damage. Are we to go through that again,” he queried.
He said that the NDC which has the statutory authority to disapprove of the construction did disapprove of it on the ground of the blocked drainage canal. “Both the NDC and the Ministry of Local Government are maintaining their disapproval of the blocked drainage canal. As a result of the ongoing blockage, central government has filed an injunction in the High Court”, he declared. He asserted that “frankly speaking, I don’t care how huge an edifice is being constructed, as long as the drainage canal is left unblocked and water flow is unimpeded into the Demerara River.”
Collymore pointed out that under the Local Government Act, the competent authority where drainage and irrigation canals are concerned is the Minister of Local Government. Decisions to fill in a drainage or irrigation canal can only be taken by the Minister, after he has consulted with the engineers at the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). Section 147 of the Local Government Act is specifically aimed at all private proprietors through whose property vital drainage and irrigation canals and trenches pass, he noted.
Under the Drainage and Irrigation Act, Chapter 68:03 at Part VII Section 59, it is also an offence for anyone to fill in any canal without the written permission of the NDIA. Ignorance is no excuse, he concluded.
