Land ownership has always been seen as a symbol of generational wealth and security, due to the important role in personal and collective development that it is seen to play. While promoting a positive vision of stability, land can very often be a contentious asset. In Guyana, land disputes have resulted in things from murders to family disputes, with the two often going hand in hand. At the national government level, the issue of land has also reared its sordid head with notorious land deals, as was seen in Pradoville. Former Minister of Housing, Irfaan Ali, who is now the President, was accused of involvement in a clandestine deal to sell these lands way below market value to members of his party. Land deals such as this rightly earned quite a lot of public scrutiny. However, those with power will often come out unscathed from incidents such as these, while the people lose.
