The opening of the Deeds and Commercial registry in Mabaruma, Region One (Barima – Waini) led to the registration of 77 new businesses in the sub-district. This is according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, who visited the town to open the new Deeds and Commercial Registry office on Monday.
During his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday evening, Nandlall noted that the establishment of the office in the town not only makes it easier to conduct business, but it also encourages people to legalise and formalise their businesses.
“These were 77 people who were conducting their services but not registered to do so. Now there is compliance with the law and a formal business community can be established,” he said.
The new office was established within the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) building, allowing residents to register businesses, file property deeds, and access ownership records – without leaving Mabaruma.
Previously, anyone required to access these services had to travel to Georgetown. On its first day of operation, the agency generated $389,500 in revenue for the services rendered to residents.
Nandlall said the government also plans to open offices in townships countrywide, including Bartica (Region Seven), Mahdia (Region Eight), Lethem (Region Nine), and Linden (Region Ten).
In addition to decentralising the Government’s services, he noted that “when these offices are established in these localities, they provide employment to the persons qualified to work in these offices.”
The Attorney General criticised the former APNU+AFC administration for establishing towns in the various regions without ensuring that key government services are available in those townships.
“It lacks many of the facilities that townships will have and are intended to have. It is the intent of our government to put those services [in the towns] but it will take time…It is not lip service and it is not only talk. We are following it up with concrete actions to benefit all of our people wherever they’re located,” Nandlall said.
Mabaruma was officially named a town in 2016.
During the outreach, the AG Chambers also met with residents to address their concerns. A similar exercise will be conducted in Port Kaituma, Region One in the coming week.
