Land at the West Bank of Berbice which has been at the centre of conflict among various farmers will now be zoned and leased to them.
The compromise was reached yesterday following a meeting between the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha and the rice, cash crop and cattle farmers in the area yesterday.
The two ministers held private meetings with the various farmers as it relates to the lands located in Shieldstown-Rampur, West Bank Berbice, at the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA) office in Region Five.
Following the meeting, Nandlall told the media that the dispute has been ongoing for decades.
This newspaper was told that about eight cattle farmers with over 600 head of cattle in total have been occupying sections of the land for over 10 years now.
However, cash crop and rice farmers are claiming that in the past relatives of theirs once occupied the land and they would like to continue occupation.
“Now that we are back in government, we promised that we would bring the both sides together, the two competing set of farmers together, and try to work out a solution,” Nandlall said.
The groups of persons were advised to organise themselves into a co-op society so that whatever decision is made in the end in terms of division and leasing, then all members of the co-op would benefit.
“We have extracted from them an understanding, which hopefully they would carry through, and we would divide the land in an acceptable way, in ways that they would have agreed upon and then we will regularise the occupation by issuance of licences or some form of lease,” Nandlall added.
Nandlall stressed that yesterday’s meeting was a part of the government’s programme of dealing with issues on the ground head on.
Meanwhile, Mustapha related that they would be fast tracking the efforts to get the matter resolved as soon as possible. “Hopefully within two months’ time we can get this matter resolved,” he said.
According to Mustapha, he instructed the manager of the MMA/ADA to carry out a survey, after which the land can be divided and leased and infrastructural works can commence.
“We are now looking to divide the land to zone it to have livestock farming and crop farming… We will divide almost a 50% division where both sides will enjoy the benefit,” he added.
According to Mustapha, the availability of land is expected to benefit just over 100 persons.
Meanwhile, Mustapha added that there are similar issues around Guyana and so he and Nandlall have teamed up to “aggressively resolve these conflicts.”
Furthermore, Mustapha stressed that he is encouraging cattle farmers to continue their work, especially given the loss of animals during the recent disastrous flooding. “Our cattle industry is about to take off. Right here in MMA we have an investor coming to set up a pasteurized [milk] plant”, he said, noting that they will need cattle to supply milk.
