Government has issued an order to acquire the Hampton Court airstrip and connecting roads for the “construction of a public work.”
According to the Order, made under the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes Act and published in Official Gazette of November 23rd, the lands comprise portions of Plantation Hampton Court, Essequibo Coast, in Region Two.
The Order, issued by Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson in exercise of his power under the legislation, authorises the Commissioner of Lands and Survey, together with his agents, servants or workmen to “enter upon said lands …for the purposes of surveying or otherwise examining such lands with a view of acquiring the whole or part of such lands for the construction of a public work.”
It is not clear what that public work entails.
Stabroek News reached out to Commissioner of Lands and Surveys Trevor Benn, who indicated that while a department within his agency may have been engaged to conduct works in the area, he was not aware of the project.
Attempts to reach Minister Patterson proved futile.
Beni Sankar, of Kayman Sankar and Company Limited, who had previously owned the lands, said they were part of the estate that he sold years ago.
