Dear Editor,
Land ownership in Guyana is a prerequisite to transform Guyana’s economic food security and family sustainability. Development should be broad-based, as Changlee suggests in his letter dealing with government’s development plan and that parcel of five acres of land, in SN 2024-09-19.
Development of rural communities depends on land ownership. New cities development depend on real estate magnates and private profit making. Private property rights have advantages over cooperatives, such as the Industry Housing Scheme Cooperative, with members who were farming at Mahaicony backdam. Black Bush Polder was zoned as 10 acres for farming and two acres for homestead. People could extend their reach in land development through private initiatives and voluntary cooperation in using privately owned resources. Changlee is on target for Rural Community Development: ‘five acres of land and all future Guyanese will also receive that amount upon birth, the government can eliminate poverty and prevent debt at a much faster rate’.
A Guyanese oriented Rural Development Plan would need Rural Infrastructure and a Rural Community Development Commercial bank loan program. People who have ownership rights will use their own initiative plus their family’s self-interest to survive and grow with their private property. This happened in Betterverwagting village and their nearby backdam. The rice industry is also a shining example of private property rights development. Tree plantations could emerge from five acres of land ownership in citrus, coffee, cocoa, coconut, mango, pineapple, avocado that were also grown in Canals Polder Commu-nities, where people farmed in their backyards. Both Rural Community Development and Urban Development plans are needed for sustainable economic development. Without communities we would be on track for a migrant labour force.
Sincerely,
Ganga Persad Ramdas, PhD,
MA, MS.