The Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricul-ture Development Authority’s (MMA-ADA) Land Dispute Resolution sub-committee is now in place, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha met and informed the three-person sub-committee that there were a number of pressing land dispute matters in the MMA scheme that they would need to review. The sub-committee is headed by Justice Cecil Kennard (Ret’d), and comprises former CEO of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, Andrew Bishop and Lands and Surveys official, Jewel Cheong.
“The creation of this sub-committee arose when the Attorney General and I were discussing land issues that were coming out of the MMA scheme. There are legal issues pending there and there are a number of issues with land distribution. There are hundreds of acres of land that were leased to people who are residing overseas. In turn, they are renting it to small farmers who are forced to pay double or triple the cost of the lease fee in rent. As you know, we have a new Board of Directors for the MMA. I’ve tasked the new board to present new proposals because we want to start works on the second phase of the scheme.” the minister said.