There is no law barring senior public servants from applying for state lands and Head of the Project Management Office of the Ministry of the Presidency, Marlon Bristol, followed all necessary protocols when he applied for three parcels two years ago, head of the GLSC, Trevor Benn says.
And with regards to claims by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo that Bristol applied for lands that were proposed for deep-water ports in Linden and Berbice, Benn said that as far as he knows, no deep water port facility has been proposed for either of the two areas.
“The application was made two years ago and once all the actions – which includes surveys and so on were completed – it was awarded this year. As far as I am aware, there is no project for a deep water port there,” Benn told Stabroek News yesterday, when contacted.
“You have to understand that the law does not prohibit senior or any public servant from applying, once you go through the necessary procedure,” he added.
The fact that Bristol is Head of the Project Management Office in the Ministry of the Presidency would naturally raise the question as whether he is privy to privileged information about ventures planned for various parts of the country. His being granted three swathes of land in a relatively short period of time would also beg the question of what plans have been laid out by him for the areas and the financial backing for such.
Jagdeo last week accused the APNU+AFC government of a “mad rush” to allocate prime state lands to key officials and alleged supporters since the December 21st no-confidence vote but the documentation he provided for the cases cited did not support his claims. He has since faced severe criticism with officials and some of those involved describing his allegations as false and in some cases, providing additional documentation to back up their case.
With regards to Bristol, Jagdeo said that the official was awarded one acre in Mocha, East Bank Demerara in February of this year, 12 acres at Dallawalla, Linden in June and 80 acres at Bohemia. According to the Opposition Leader, at both the Dallawalla and Bohemia locations, a deep water harbour or a shore-based facility can be built.
Benn was questioned yesterday about the sites being proposed for harbours and he responded, “I am not aware that there is a proposal for a deep water site at any of the two areas. I have never heard of that before. I would love to see the plan.”
Pressed on the matter, he maintained, ”Not that I am aware of.”
He said that as far as he knows, a proposal was floated by the PPP/C that the deep water harbour be around the Crab Island, Berbice area and it was why the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) had last year invited persons to submit proposals for lands north of that area.
“The deep water site which the PPP had proposed is not at Bohemia. And if you know, Bohemia is further down. If you follow the news, we had put out a call for persons who are interested north of where the deep water harbour was supposed to be. But we have not moved as yet on those proposals. Bohemia is not part of the area and this government has not settled on an area,” he explained.
Questions have also been raised about the timeframe in which Bristol was able to apply for lands, have the applications processed and receive his lease.
Benn said that while some may question the optics, Bristol is not the first person to have his application process completed in a short period and persons from the opposition have also been able to get lands within the same time.
“This is not the only person that has put in and in two years was able to get a lease. There has been PPP people who put in also. It is only possible in specific places where there is access to the land. There are some areas where squatting and so on affect the time. It is easy to come up with that type of analysis and especially when persons want to make this political,” the GLSC Commissioner said.
“Our recordkeeping has been awful. I inherited that and I’m trying to facilitate any and everybody that comes in with their concerns. This is one person,” he added.
Process
The GLSC’s website outlines the process for getting a lease of state lands.
The applicant would first have to write to the Commissioner expressing interest in getting a lease and state their preferred area of allocation and purpose for the lands. This is followed by the GLSC sending an acknowledgement letter and an invitation to visit the commission.
At that visit, the applicant would be informed of land availability. Upon selecting the lands, the applicant will be required to pay an inspection fee. “At the same time your inspection will be scheduled at your earliest convenience,” the GLSC website states.
The field inspection will then be done.
“On the day of the scheduled inspection, you will accompany the Field Staff to inspect the land for which you have applied. You will be given the option to decide if the land meets your requirements. You will be provided with an inspection report as proof that this inspection occurred. Once the land inspected meets your requirements, you will be invited to purchase and submit a formal application. This application will capture details about yourself, the land and your intended use of such. You will also be required to pay an application processing and filing fee upon submission of the application. Your application along with the relevant internal documents are passed to our processing unit to verify its correctness, ensuring your application meets our minimum criteria. Your details are also entered into our electronic database,” the website explains.
The GLSC states that a detailed list of all submitted and verified applications is reviewed at several levels for approval or refusal. The list of approved applicants is then sent to be scrutinised and signed by the Minister of State within the Ministry of the Presidency.
Once the application is signed by the Minister of State, the applicant will be notified of the requirement to conduct a survey (also known as a cadastral survey) if the application has been approved and the land applied for has not been previously surveyed. “If the survey is being executed by the commission you are required to pay 75% of the estimated survey cost. Please note that you have a right to accompany the Surveyor when the survey is being executed. You have 4 months from date of approval letter to conduct the survey and have the cadastral plan submitted to the Surveys Division of the Commission,” the website states.
The lease is then prepared, assigned a unique number, signed by the Commissioner and recorded in the GL&SC’s master register. It is then sent to the regional office where the applicant will be contacted so they can uplift it and pay the issuance fee.
Benn said that the average time from application to uplifting a lease varies but the minimum period is six months. “There is no set time. There is a process that must be administered but it is highly unlikely that all the processes can be completed in any time less than six months,” he said.
The GLSC Commissioner has said that there is a record that under his predecessor Doerga Persaud, the process was completed in one day for some persons.
Benn was asked about persons having multiple applications, as Bristol has leases for three areas. He said there was nothing barring multiple applications as long as the persons could show that they could meet the requirements.
“When I arrived at (the GLSC), one man on the Corentye had over 1000 leases waiting to be picked up and other people with several. It is common. We have a businessman applying for four different lots. There are many different factors that would see someone applying for multiple places. There is nothing stopping you from applying but you have to apply individually and you pay individually and meet the stipulations set out,” he said.
He added that the GLSC is currently upgrading its systems and has a database that shows the status of all lands. “When I got here, I thought it was madness because you went to an area and people were on the land with leases but there is nothing on record. I think though, there was a method to the madness and why they disband the registry that I left there in 1999. I think it was disbanded so there is no system in place to account for the various documents.
“We are trying to fix that and they are pushing back. We are not going to get rid of any document and I am proud you can have access to the information and ask about the gentleman being asked about now. We can’t find record for thousands of acres but we know people that have large farms on some,” he said.
Benn said that he doesn’t want to make his agency a playground for politics and “descend to start hunting for people” and be caught up in the “nasty” name calling and politicking. As such, he will work with facts and produce them and the opposition should do the same.
