A lawyer’s letter directing the Beterverwagting/Triumph Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) to make preparations for the passing of the transport for 143.10 acres in the area has set off alarm bells among residents, who fear efforts were being made to steal their property.
“The matter at caption refers. I am instructed that my client purchased [from] your NDC on the 30th day of November, 2021, immovable property situate at Section ‘G’ Plantation Beterverwagting in the Triumph/Beterverwagting NDC Village District, East Coast Demerara, which lot consists of 143.10 acres. This missive serves to inform you that my client is ready, willing and able to complete the conveyance. In the circumstances, I shall be grateful if the necessary acts can be taken to ensure the filing, advertising and passing of transport in favour of my client,” states the March 16, 2022 letter, which was sent by attorney Shaunella Glen-George to the BV/Triumph Overseer Michelle Otto.
The attorney’s client was not named in the letter, titled ‘Re: Agreement for sale and purchase 30th November, 2021,’ and seen by this newspaper,
Calls to the attorney’s mobile phone went unanswered.
The acreage referred to in the letter is the exact amount that John Fernandes Limited had been in an agreement to acquire last year for $35 million until it pulled out following public objections and protests from owners of the land, who not only criticised the deal but called the price a “vulgar” undervaluation.
However, John Fernandes Limited has distanced itself from the lawyer’s letter. “We have nothing to do with this… and I am very, very sure,” John Fernandes Chief Executive Officer Phillip Fernandes told Stabroek News when contacted. “Nothing has changed from our first position” he emphasised.
A statutory meeting was due to held by the RDC on Thursday and villagers seeking answers about the request grew even more concerned when they were told that while they were invited to the meeting, only one person could go into the meeting at a time. As a result, they had to take turns — a move they all said “made no sense” since they had the same concerns.
“Why not do this meeting in an open hall or even downstairs here where people can come and be heard? No they don’t want that. They want to take you in, one, one, so they can tell this body one story and that body another story and that body another story. They don’t want us in groups because they know what would happen if we are in numbers…They are not allowing you to speak,” an irate Clyde Westmorland shouted.
“A bunch of crooks! …Dem now come a this village and want sell out people land? [It is] transported land because the council don’t have no lands at the back there. I am tired of these here people. I want the council to know that council land is reserve lands and them aint get no reserve land at the back deh. All the lands have transports. All is transported lands and they aint going to get away with this nonsense,” he added.
Also present was 79-year-old New York-based Guyanese Winston Padmore, who said he wanted to ensure that whenever he passes on there is no “contention” over lands he owns, some of which was inherited from his parents.
“I came early, took my turn and went in. I took all my documents. I took my tax receipts, the transports, every bill and every document. They took them, went through them then told me that everything is okay with my land and that my land was not on the list,” he said, holding up a large folder with documents. He said that he was not told what the list was for.
“I was born here and my parents are also from this village. The lands there are transported lands. My parents taught me to keep receipts and documents safe. I have been keeping records and documents from since I was 19 years old. I went overseas to live and I still do. So when my children see my will, which I am now making, they would not have any problems. All the records are there,” he said.
Padmore said that he would hate to know that when he died his children would have “the burden” of having to verify and pay attorneys to inherit what he so hard worked for and what has been passed down by his ancestors. It is why he is taking the time now to ensure all “the ends are tied up”.
Most of the other persons at the meeting did not want to speak on record for fear of victimisation. But most of them had in their hands what appeared to be land transports.
Details of the previous John Fernandes deal had only came to light when the agreement document was leaked, according to Councilor Elton McCrae, one of the nearly 100 Beterverwagting residents who own part of the contentious lands.
“Property situated at Section G consisting of 143.10 acres,… and being part of a tract of crown land comprising sections F and G Beterverwagting which contains 200 acres as shown on plans by Chalmers dated 5.1.65 and H.I Perkins dated 17.2.90 in the county of Demerara which commences at the Southern extremity of Section L and extends southwards to the East Coast Canal
concession, with no buildings and/or erections thereon,” the description of the land on the agreement states.
According to the terms of agreement, JFL was supposed to pay the NDC $20 million on signing the agreement and the remainder when the transport was passed.
McCrae had noted that if the document wasn’t leaked, nearly 100 persons would have found themselves without their property whenever in the future they were ready to develop it, and he blamed the NDC.
But Fernandes had said that when it learned of the objection, JFL immediately made the decision to pull out of the deal because it did not want to be a part a process where persons felt they were being shortchanged.
“When people objected and started saying we should not be buying the land and it belonged to other people, we said if there are people who made claims and there might be legitimacy to the claims, we don’t want to go against that. So it was safer for us to say, let us take a step back and we can always look elsewhere because it wasn’t an immediate need for us. We don’t absolutely need it,” Fernandes had told this newspaper.
“We were looking for opportunities of investment for possible future growth but it wasn’t something that we had a current plan for. That space isn’t something we could develop and turn into something at the moment, so it was more of a long term consideration for us. Guyanese have gotten a raw deal for years and the last thing we wanted was to be part of something where people felt they were getting a raw deal again and we walked,” he explained.
