The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is gearing to take the state to court regarding the construction of a hotel on disputed lands along Carifesta Avenue.
Mayor Alfred Mentore told Stabroek News on Friday that the council was putting together “documents with valid information” so that its attorneys “will be able to handle the situation”. He also said that the council will be procuring an independent surveyor who will be able to determine and conduct technical assessments on the grounds of the Guyana National Service and National Insurance Scheme.
The mayor is adamant that a professional and independent surveyor will be able to dig deeper and provide some technical directives on the situation.
As it relates to the cease order which was withdrawn by City Engineer Colvern Venture who was instructed by Mentore to issue the notice on the fence of the project being constructed, a decision is yet to be made as to what or if any disciplinary action will be taken against Venture.
The City Engineer, in a letter which was published in Stabroek News on March 13, said that the notice that was posted on the fence of the plot of land was not addressed to any individual as certain reports seemed to want to suggest.
“The notice was inadvertently posted on the fence by my department. Minutes of the last statutory meeting would show that I reported to the council that, on my many visits to the said location, there was no one at the site. Also, no building or other works were being done at that location,” Venture chronicled in his letter.
He said that since there was neither the presence of an individual on the site nor any sign of construction being carried out, the notice was inadvertently posted on the fence. The notice was then withdrawn by Venture.
But the mayor, on March 13, said that the City Engineer had gone against the decision of the council as the agreement was for him to issue a cease order on works underway for a US$300 million Georgetown Seafront Resort and Convention Centre being built by a Qatari company on disputed lands along Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown.
“The council never made any decision as it relates to the withdrawal of the cease order and him doing that is going against the orders of the council… The Chief Engineer is authorized to treat or deal with these matters where a project is being built but was not authorized by the Mayor and City Council,” Mentore said.
“No project plan came to the city council so our position is that it was unauthorized. But the City Engineer continues to claim that he checked the city’s transport to verify the ownership of the lands. My point is that it is not about the veracity of who are the owners, it is about principles which were not followed. We saw a massive green fence going up and no one was informed about anything”.
The City Engineer in his letter contended that he advised the Mayor and Councillors at the Statutory Meeting held on Monday, March 11, 2024, that, as a result of a decision taken at its meeting on February 26, 2024, for him to issue a cease order notice to the developers or persons carrying out works on a portion of land along Carifesta Avenue that belongs to the municipality, he as City Engineer, conducted thorough research on the matter and he determined that authority for the lands lay with the state.
“I hasten to emphasise that as City Engineer of the City of Georgetown, it has never been my practice or intention to derail any company or foreign investors from investing in the city or the country as a whole. I am always ready and willing to work with all stakeholders to ensure that our city and by extension our country – Guyana develops,” Venture said in his letter.
The Guyana Office for Investment recently disclosed that the Qatari company, Assets Group Inc, which is planning the luxury development on Carifesta Avenue will purchase the land for $2 billion.
