Dear Editor,
Thanks to attorney-at-law, Mr. Christopher Ram, for his tireless, thankless work for Guyanese. The government’s proposed amendments to the Acquisition of Land for Public Purposes Act is the latest example of such work. Thanks are also extended to the Hon. Attorney General, Mr. M.A. Nandlall, SC, MP, for his efforts pertaining to this same issue. For those bracing for jeering and judging Mr. Nandlall, brace for disappointment. The objective is to join hands in the hope of helping him, steering him away from what is inimical to Guyanese interests, his own also. For a peaceful conversation with AG Nandlall, I replace ‘inimical’ with hurtful. For good faith, I stipulate to whatever luminescence the AG attaches to himself. Surely, because of that, he should know better. Just as surely, due to his claimed warrior credentials, he ought to be bolder, wiser. Elaboration follows.
Messrs. Ram and Nandlall call what is in motion, proposed amendments to the Land Acquisition Act. Thanks, gentlemen. I brand Mr. Nandlall’s latest handiwork as a poorly disguised land grab. The PPP Government may have the best reasons in the world for what is envisioned, but it is still a naked land grab that devastates impacted Guyanese. No matter how this delights the bright Mr. Nandlall and his comrades it is land piracy, by legal means, under a different name. The AG can call it whatever pleases, eminent domain, rights of the state, unencumbered passage for national benefit, and there may be all of such. But there is always the burning issue of “fair compensation.” Fair recompense should be the price of progress, to which there is certainty that the AG will agree.
What is fair to citizens asked – indeed, forced to relinquish their homes, their heritage, their history? When is fair foul? What can be so unfair to the PPP Government that it seeks to drive the hardest, sharpest, bargain with its own citizens? The AG needs no help about what the sharpest bargain is. Mr. Ram and Mr. Nandlall differ on fair value, or fair market value. I agree with the accountant and attorney: it shouldn’t be a government man doing the appraisal. Even a committed stalwart as Mr. Nandlall should find it in himself to object to what is tilted against citizens, or flashes such warnings. It’s a light with an odour. The numbers man recommended a panel to appraise. Mr. Nandlall should concur. But fair market value cannot be the alpha and omega of separating law-abiding citizens from their land, their property holdings. The men of law should know that too; in this instance, only one does.
To AG Nandlall, I say this: there are two other vital issues; both possess their own vital statistics. They are less those of beauty queens and more that of a king. Cash, sir. Just compensation for land taken under legal duress must include lost income. The new bridge must go on, but so must involuntarily displaced Guyanese. I speak not of IBM nor Exxon. But roti and curry or black pudding kitchen businesses, some cottage culture presence with a long history. Lost customers mean lost income. Lost access to buyers (networks) means new burdens, probably intolerable ones. Then there is lost potential, of what could be, if the unfriendly ousting from a family dwelling, a commercial vision, proceeds (to come) under the auspices of fair value only. The AG should have his law. Guyanese touched by it should be touched by the sum of the justness of what is received in exchange, to make them whole.
To make whole may be an inconceivable consideration for the clinical, callous PPP Government when emotional attachment, sentimental value, or the sacred nature of heritage enters the compensation picture. Consideration is a word that should have more than ordinary weight for AG Nandlall. Whether a generation or multiples of such, this land, this address, this homestead has no price. It’s that inviolable. The simple man in me empathizes with Mr. Nandlall’s predicament. Whether two-by-four plot, or city block, for some it represents sanctuary, shrine, or castle. Not one or the other, Mr. Nandlall, but all three. It is a man’s cathedral, a woman’s parlour. All these should, must, factor in fair compensation. A fair AG, a fair government, would see to all elements specified.
Separately, it is troubling that the PPP Government is developing the tendencies of England’s Kings John and Henry VIII, the former of magna carta illumination, the latter of marital machinations. When the judiciary cannot be overcome, then the law could be subverted by a parliamentary arithmetic. I am troubled at how a warrior of the calibre of Mohabir Anil Nandlall is always fighting the wrong wars for the wrong reasons for the wrong allies. Exxon is not Guyana’s friend. Guyanese are not his enemies. Sometime or the other, Mr. Nandlall must develop the personal courage to stand before his president and vice president and say: not this way. Not today. Not on my watch. The floor is cleared, so that AG Nandlall can have his say.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall