Redstart Investments, which owns Unicomer and similar businesses in Trinidad, the British Virgin Islands and Belize, has established a presence in Guyana and is buying just over 52 acres of land in the Houston/Rome area, where a number of oil and gas companies are currently developing.
However, the company says that it does not at this time wish to speak about plans for the large swathe of lands it acquired until the legal sales processes are completed.
A recent notice placed by the Vieira-owned Plantation Houston Sugar Estates Company Limited informed of the sale.
“Transport of Area “SR4”, a portion of Plantation Rome (South Section), in the city of Georgetown, in the country of Demerara…the said Areas SR4 containing an area 52.5774 acres being shown on a plan by E.[Enrique] G Monize, Sworn Land Surveyor dated the 10th day of January, 2019 and recorded at the Department of Lands and Surveys on the 25th day of February, 2019 as plan No.71468 and deposited in the Deeds Registry of Georgetown on the 5th day of April, 2019, no building and erections thereon and subject to the following conditions: The said plot of land is for residential, commercial and industrial purposes to Redstart Investments Guyana Inc., a company duly incorporated in Guyana under the Companies Act of Guyana, 1991, whose registered address is situated at Lots 25-25 Main Street Georgetown, Guyana,” a notice in the Official Gazette states.
This newspaper visited Redstart Investments Guyana Inc’s local office, which is located in the Unicomer-owned Courts building on Main Street, but was told that the company does not wish to speak as the sale has not yet been completed.
Most of the land in the Houston/Rome area is owned by the Vieira family and once were sugar estates.
The area where the lands are located was the source of a legal action as the Guyana Lands and Surveys Department (GL&SC) took issue with the surveyor for the current transaction, Monize, allegedly including a state canal in lands he surveyed.
The inclusion of the canal had seen land buyers filling in the area, which the GL&SC said poses a risk of flooding since it was set up for drainage of that and surrounding areas.
Currently, most of what once the Houston Estate Canal, where airboats and estate punts once traversed, have been filled up and only a small section of the waterway remains. It is unclear what drainage systems are in place for the area.
The GL&SC had taken Monize, a former manager of land administration at the agency, to court over for allegedly including the canal areas in surveyed properties. A disciplinary committee, according to GL&SC Head Trevor Benn, had fined him for inclusion. However, Monize took to the courts to challenge the finding and that matter is ongoing.
TechnipFMC, the United Kingdom headquartered subsea project management company, in February broke ground for its proposed facility in the area. That facility will initially support the second phase of the Liza project and future projects.
And as part of its planned US$50 million expansion plans for the next 12 months, Guyana Shore Base Inc. has purchased 100 acres, also from the Vieiras, in the same area.
This newspaper was told that land to build a private medical facility was also purchased nearby, while Gafoors continues the construction of its new warehouse complex and stores.
