While Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday claimed the APNU+AFC government has been in a “mad rush” to allocate prime state lands to key officials and alleged supporters since the December 21st no-confidence vote, Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) Trevor Benn has labelled his statements as misinformation.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Jagdeo identified several state employees, including the Head of Project Management Office at the Ministry of Presidency Marlon Bristol and State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) Special Assistant Eric Phillips, as having been beneficiaries of a “wanton and obscene gathering of land” that could be developed into shore-based facilities.
As a result, he declared that any oil company which does business with any of the beneficiaries is an “enemy” of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.
“We will review every single thing and if the process is not followed and it is not transparent and we can trace corruption, we will repossess,” Jagdeo said, before adding that he and his will people will also brief every oil company and the international community on the situation.
Benn, however, told Stabroek News that Jagdeo is peddling of a lot of misinformation, which the commission is prepared to correct at a press conference scheduled for today.
At a press conference at his Church Street office, Jagdeo shared documents which showed that Bristol was awarded one acre of land in Mocha and 12 acres at Dalawalla in Linden, which he called a “prime area” where a deep water harbour or a lucrative shore-based facility can be built. Also leased by Bristol is 80 acres at Bohemia in Berbice, a location which Jagdeo claimed is also likely to have a lucrative deep-water harbour and shore-based facilities.
However, despite the claim that the land was awarded following the December 21st no confidence motion, the maps presented by Jagdeo show that Bristol was awarded the land in Linden on November 13, 2018. Similarly, the 80 acres awarded to Bristol in Bohemia were, according to the document provided by Jagdeo, awarded on November 26, 2018 rather that February, 2019, as he claimed.
In the case of Phillips, Jagdeo showed documents that suggested that he is now in possession of 1,000 acres in the Essequibo River and 1,000 acres in the Demerara River.
He identified April, 2019, as the date when Phillips received the land from government under file number 321132/1604. However, the documents provided by the former President show that the land in the Essequibo River was first awarded to Phillips in July, 2017. Another 1,000 acres in the Demerara River, which Jagdeo said was recently issued, was actually awarded via letter in February, 2016.
Phillips, who has repeatedly denied previous claims by Jagdeo of receiving 3,000 acres of land, took to his Facebook page to address the new claims.
Integrated farm
“He knows I applied for 1000 acres of Land in 2013 under the PPP with an Investor to create an integrated farm in the Essequibo…my application disappeared for two years and was hidden and (lost) until I complained to Doerga Persaud (Commissioner) and (Keith) Burrowes from Go -INVEST. (I have all the letters to prove this and will show the Media),” Phillips stated, before adding that after two years of weekly complaints, his application was suddenly found in 2015 just before the elections, by which time his investor had moved on.
He added that he still pursued the project and when the land was identified and fees paid, it was found that 600 of the 1,000 acres were under water in a flood plain, which led to a restart of the process after he lost $1.5 million in cadastral survey fee for the unusable land.
“This new process resulted in new lands being surveyed and paid for at a cost of G$2.077 million so that a process that began in 2013 was completed in 2019,” he concluded.
Jagdeo went to great pains to draw a correlation between the various land awards he labelled corrupt and President David Granger.
According to the Opposition Leader, “This is about the President himself, the corruption emanates from his office.”
“He has to answer whether he knows what is being done in his name; whether he agrees and why his office is doing this,” he said, before adding that Bristol is someone working in the office of the president and who stands to make massive sums of money if he sells the land now.
He further alleged that the Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield and others were awarded 1,297 acres of land in one area, 216 acres of land at Millie’s Hideout and two acres of land at Mocha.
Charles Ceres, whose wife is Director of Environment at the Ministry of the Presidency Ndibi Schwiers, was purportedly allocated 1297.1 acres in the Canje Creek, 112 acres at Bohemia, in close proximity to Bristol, 5,000 acres at a location yet to be identified and a plot at Liliendaal.
An unnamed ex-PNC Member of Parliament is also alleged to have been awarded 1,200 acres in the Pomeroon River, while his family purportedly got 2,900 acres in the same area and he has another 6,400 acres that is set to be approved, according to Jagdeo.
Director of Sport Christopher Jones is also alleged to have been granted a lease for a large portion of land at Aubrey Barker Road.
Jagdeo also took pains to draw attention to various awards to Venture Capital Incorporated and Great Wall Mining Inc, whose Director, Saratu Phillips, he claimed, was involved in the “parking meter controversy.”
Phillips was, however, never involved with Smart City Solution (SCS) or National Parking Systems. His company Astrolobe had held a contract for the development of parking spaces with the City of Georgetown prior to the metered parking project. His contract was terminated by Town Clerk Royston King in favour of the now controversial metered parking contract with SCS.
At yesterday press conference, Jagdeo claimed that Phillips’ business partner has both a business and personal relationship with Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon.
