Chief Citizen Alfred Mentore yesterday blasted City Engineer Colvern Venture for not issuing a cease order on works underway for a Qatari Hotel on disputed lands along Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown and he also signalled that court action is imminent.
Venture at the Mayor and City Council’s statutory meeting yesterday in his defence said that “The cease order was not issued as a result of me not getting to validate who the owners are. When I visited the location no one was occupying there, I wrote the Town Clerk (Candace Nelson) requesting a copy of the transport so that we can know who the owners are as such because of the allocations that were stated on the transport, some research was done and showed that the transport which was circulated by the city council claiming the ownership of that particular plot of land does not speak to that and a result of that I could not issue the cease order”.
While the city continues to assert ownership of the Guyana National Service (GNS) and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) grounds, the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC) continues to hold out that these lands are state-owned.
In the wake of the dispute, Venture said that he was relying on information from the GLSC which has documented outlines and plans of the disputed grounds where the US$300 million seafront and convention centre will be constructed by Qatari company Assets Group Inc.
Mentore in response said that Venture was in no position to determine the veracity of the documentation as this falls within the forte of a professional land surveyor. He pointed out that Venture was to issue the cease order for unauthorized work on the site as there was no application to the council.
“It is not for us to determine the veracity of … who owns these lands, but the reality is that unauthorized works are being done on these grounds and any unauthorized work that is being done in the city, you as the City Engineer is mandated to intervene”, Mentore posited.
He continued “If a man is building something, you as the City Engineer are required to find out if that that individual was granted the authority of the M&CC, and request copies of the necessary documents to support it, in this case, nothing could be provided to you but you see that a fence was being erected on those lands and you didn’t intervene? A notice should have been served”.
Mentore noted that while Venture was relying solely on a transport, the regulations governing the engineering department at the city council should have been followed.
The City Engineer however said that when he visited the worksite no works were being done at that time.
But Mentore made it clear that Venture was required to follow the instructions but did otherwise.
The Mayor instructed the City Engineer to provide a copy of the cease order as proof that it was indeed sent to the occupants of the land.
Mentore : “So Mr Venture how soon can you provide the copy of that cease order to me ?”
Venture: “Yes Sir I have it here now. I will provide it to you now and I will take a photo of it as well”.
Mayor: “Yes I appreciate that so by tomorrow I should have it”.
Things got even more hearted when councillor Steven Jacobs challenged Mentore on the cease order.
Jacobs contended that when he visited the work site on Carifesta Avenue no works were being conducted and he accused the Mayor of attempting to hinder the development of the project, which in his view would benefit all Guyanese.
The PPP/C councillor said that Mentore was also allowing politics to cloud his judgement.
But the Mayor in response to these remarks by Jacobs made it clear that he is not anti-development but the central government at the same time must understand “principles”.
“As the custodian of this city I have to ensure that things are done properly in alignment with the laws of the city and the plans which the lands and survey published are erroneous”, Mentore asserted.
With that being said, the Mayor stated that the matter concerning these disputed lands will appear before the High Court as he told councillors at the meeting that the GLSC does not have the supporting information to validate that these grounds belong to the state.
Mentore is also disappointed at the fact that there have been no discussions regarding the disputed lands at Carifesta Avenue.
He noted that a letter was sent to President Irfaan Ali last week Tuesday concerning a meeting on the subject but the President did not respond.
The Mayor said he will have discussions today with attorneys on this recent development.
He told Stabroek News On Saturday that the Head of State was given a seven-day timeframe to respond to the concerns of the council regarding the construction on lands that the city said were bequeathed to it more than 130 years ago.
When asked what are his thoughts concerning the President’s approach towards the situation, Mentore said that it all goes back to the mentality of the central government where they made decisions without involving the municipality.
He reasoned that the attitude demonstrated by the Ali-led regime is one of “authoritarianism” as there is no respect for the local democracy even at the level of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
The Guyana Office for Investment (G-Invest) recently disclosed that the Qatari company (Assets Group Inc.) planning the luxury development on Carifesta Avenue will purchase the land for $2b.
Mentore when contacted had told this newspaper that the company can’t purchase land that the city has control over without consulting with it.
The Chief Citizen said that the council’s attorney will be consulted as it relates to the intended purchase of the land.
He noted that if the state was interested in building the facility on these lands, procedurally applications must be submitted to institutions such as the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission and the Guyana Land Registry, etcetera.
The City Mayor reiterated that the GNS and NIS grounds were meant for educational, recreational and institutional purposes.
GLSC maintained that lands belong to the state
The Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC) last week said that it hoped that the latest information provided would bring the disputation to an end.
It had issued a previous statement on February 20th rebuffing the city’s claim to the area but this had not stopped Mayor Alfred Mentore from pressing Georgetown’s claim.
Settling the issue is pivotal otherwise the Qatari investor, Assets Group could end up in the middle of a legal battle.
Aside from the claim to the land, the city has also argued that the government and the Qatari investor have descended on the area completely ignoring municipal regulations and illegally fencing the property etc.
Number 235
In its statement on March 6th of this year the GLSC said it holds Transport Number 235 of 1863 (Deeds Registry Number) 30 of 1863 (Department of Lands and Mines Number) for two plots of land at Plantation Thomas called out as Lot Number One containing 240 ½ acres and Lot number two containing 5 acres. These, it stated, are said to be shown on a Plan by C. Chalmers, Crown Surveyor dated June 1863. This transport was passed by the Attorneys for Phillip Charles Cavan, Neville Lubbock, Henry Mc Chelery and William Renuie of London for 1000 dollars. The GLSC said it was not Quintin Hogg who was born in 1845 and would have only been about 18 years old. It has been claimed by the city that the land was assigned to it by the estate of Hogg.
The GLSC said that Plantation Thomas was initially very large and included Alberttown and Queenstown which were later divided, Queenstown by the Town Council.
The said Transport is annotated to say that Lot Number Two was transported by the government to Quintin Hogg by Tr No 52 of 1886. This consists of 5 acres only. It means therefore that the remaining 240.5 acres are still held by the state, the GLSC asserted.
“GLSC never said that Mr Hogg transferred those 5 acres to the M&CC we are not too bothered about who it went to because there is no endorsement on Hogg’s Transport of him transferring it further. The GLSC also has a Copy of the Advertisement in the Official Gazette of August 1st 1863 whereby the Transport was advertised for passing as required.
“A main condition of the said Transport was that the Government was responsible for the maintenance of the Sea Dam and Bridges. The lands being adjacent to it”, the GLSC said.
It noted that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) released a copy of the last page of the said Transport, claiming that the lands at Carifesta Avenue belong to the Council under that Transport. The GLSC said that those with knowledge of the subject would understand that one needs to read the first two pages to determine where and how much land is referred to.
“The GLSC has examined the actual Transport that has been in its possession for some time now and the back page seems to match Transport 337 of 1886. The GLSC has used this transport many times as a reference whenever the Commission deals with Surveys and Land Transactions in Plantation Thomas.
“The Council, however, did not refer to the contents of the Transport, herein (is) where the mischief is being perpetuated”, the lands and survey commission said.
The said Transport it said is referenced as Number 337 of 22nd December 1887 (Demerara) and describes three portions of land as follows:
Firstly 15 acres, being Part of Pln. Thomas as shown on a Plan by J. P Prass, dated 8th December 1887 SLS. This plan is lodged at the Deeds Registry and is referenced by all subsequent surveys in the area. The area is called “Non-Pariel Park” with conditions that the said land can only be used for a public park, gardens and such like.
Secondly, 18.035 acres on the same plan, marked “A”
Thirdly 10.235 acres on the same plan marked “B”
The GLSC said that the total area is approximately 43 acres. This is said to be shown on a Plan by J.P. Prass, Crown Surveyor and lodged at the Deeds Registry. The statement said that all references to this plan by a succession of surveyors say it was seen at the Deeds Registry. The GLSC said does not have it on their records.
