– but says land lease dispute far from over
The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) did not move against the Guyana Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (GCCD) on Friday as threatened, but members of the group feel the ongoing land lease dispute is far from over.
Public Relations officer of the GCCD Cecil Morris said yesterday that the M&CC did not show up and in addition, the council’s move to the court was also delayed. M&CC had served the body with a court action and the matter was expected to be heard in the High Court on Friday.
Morris said the media’s involvement in the case “turned it for now”. He said an attorney who has offered to work pro bono for the group contacted GCCD on Friday and advised members not to show up to court until further advised.
Morris also addressed the claims by Mayor Hamilton Green that the GCCD is involved in rental on the land in dispute saying that Green “is not being truthful”. He said the building is being occupied by a caretaker who is a GCCD member and according to him the body cannot even afford to pay the member a stipend for maintaining and securing the property.
“Why would we rent out the place when the lease says this is not allowed? Anyone can go check and see who is there right now. It is one of our members,” Morris added.
On Thursday the GCCD called a press conference to complain about harassment from the M&CC which it said has gone on for years. GCCD said it has been pleading with the M&CC to renew a lease which expired in 1997 to facilitate a project which it had been fighting to execute ten years prior to the lease expiration, but the M&CC refused and has been seeking to repossess the land.
GCCD said it has been striving to create economic opportunities for its members since its initiation, noting that it started an ambitious project more than 20 years ago to set up a company that would be responsible for the creation and development of income-generating opportunities.
GCCD also said that the M&CC has been pushing around the organisation since 1997 and promised to renew the lease but has failed to do so.
Morris had stated that they are not happy with the treatment meted out, adding that for years the council has been making attempts to evict them.