Although they won legal battles against the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA), which had illegally cancelled their leases for farmlands at Seafield, West Coast Berbice, three rice farmers say their lands were nonetheless repossessed after President David Granger intervened.
As a result, farmers Philip Alexander Johnson, Rupert Blackman and Rawle Miller have asked the High Court to declare the president’s actions as unlawful and to award damages for the breach of their constitutional rights.
The Attorney General Basil Williams and the MMA-ADA were listed as the respondents in the separate actions filed on behalf of the men by a team of lawyers headed by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
They have each asked for declarations that the decision made by the president to cancel the leases was contrary to and in violation of the constitution and is unlawful, null, void and of no effect; a declaration that the president’s decision amounts to the “compulsorily acquisition” of the applicants leasehold interest thereof without the prompt payment of any or adequate compensation as guaranteed by the constitution; damages in excess of $5M; special damages, amounting to more than $1.5M in total; and a conservatory order prohibiting agents of the MMA-ADA from entering, remaining, occupying and in any manner interfering with their occupation, occupation and employment of the land leases. A date is to be fixed for hearing. The farmlands at the centre of the legal battle amount to just over 25 acres, which are situated at the North Main Canal in the rear of Plantation Seafield, West Coast Berbice.
The men stated that by the time the lands were repossessed, they had cultivated rice crops on the lands, which were then reaped by the same woman without their permission and causing them significant losses.
In the court filings, the men claim that their leasehold interests, which are protected and guaranteed under the constitution, have been compulsorily acquired by the president’s decision to cancel their leases.
It appears that the president acted in light of the legal victories by the men over the MMA-ADA, which had announced the cancellation of their leases on the basis that they were issued in breach of a court order. In February, outgoing Chief Justice Ian Chang had ruled in the favour of the three men, finding that it was not open to the MMA-ADA to determine the legal validity or invalidity of the grant of the leases and then to purport to cancel them on the basis of its own legal finding.
Justice Chang also noted that the leases were granted by former President Donald Ramotar while in office under the State Lands Act.
As with the MMA-ADA’s cancellation of their leases, Johnson, Blackman and Miller say they were not afforded hearings by any person or body or authority offering them an opportunity to show cause why their leases should or should not be cancelled, while noting that this constitutes a violation of the constitution and amounts to a deprivation and a compulsorily acquisition of their property.
According to each Notice of Motion, the men made applications for leases of state land at Seafield Village and they were each subsequently issued plots.
Johnson said that following an application process in November, 2014, he, his wife and son were leased 10.776 acres, while Blackman said he and his wife were leased 9.863 acres, and Miller said he was issued 5.915 acres.
They said they expended huge sums of money in preparing the land and in maintaining same in good and proper condition and in preparing same for the cultivation of rice. It was stated that they had fully paid rent and other charges to the MMA-ADA for the year 2015 and were “ready, able and willing to pay for the year 2016.”
However, by way of notices published in the Kaieteur News last September, they said they learned of cancellation orders that were to take immediate effect.
The cancellations, the notices said, were done following court actions which they knew nothing about. They said that they only became aware of the existence of the court matter though the newspaper notice.
They noted that they were never afforded a hearing by the authority or received notice prior to the leases being cancelled.
According to the men, they did not violate any terms or conditions contained in the leases nor were they informed by the Authority of any allegations that they committed any violation.
They said that it was as a result of this that they filed a Notice of Motion challenging the purported revocation of their leases.
As a consequence, in October, 2015, Justice Chang granted orders quashing the decision made by the Authority to cancel their leases and orders directing it and prohibiting it and its servants from issuing any provisional leases, permission to occupy, licences or leases to any persons, entities or bodies in respect of the said lands.
They noted that after full hearings, the orders were made absolute on February 19th, 2016. They said no appeals were filed but they were later informed that their leases had been cancelled.
The cancellations were effected despite the orders of the court and they said they were asked to remove from the lands. They said that by this time they had cultivated rice crops, which were ready for reaping. They said that on April 11th, 2016, a woman identified as Flavo Farina, without their permission, reaped the paddy, resulting in their suffering losses and damages.
Johnson estimated his losses and damages at $692,500, while Blackman estimated his at $619,000 and Miller estimated his at $346,500.
The men said they have since been ousted from possession of the lands and to date they have not violated or contravened any of the terms and/or conditions of the leases neither have they been informed by anyone that it is alleged that they had done so. They said they are unaware of the reason why their leases were cancelled and to date no one has furnished them with any reason whatsoever.
