The Government of Guyana is in the process of acquiring over 200 private properties in order to facilitate the construction of the Gas-to-Energy (GtE) project on the West Bank of Demerara.
Additionally, more than 48 private properties are to be acquired to facilitate the connecting highways associated with the new Demerara River Bridge.
This is according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall whose office joined the negotiations with the private owners last year.
During his weekly live programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday, Nandlall said those citizens have all been cooperating with the Government.
The GtE pipeline to transport natural gas to the Wales Power plant will be constructed from Crane foreshore to Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD), passing through several villages. Nandlall said the owners are all cooperating with the Government.
“We have over 200 private properties we have to acquire and we are acquiring it in Canal No. 1 and Canal No. 2, Wales, Viva La Force, La Grange, Bagotstown and other villages. Everyone is cooperating because they understand the importance and nature of the project…They are sitting and negotiating with the government who is giving land in some cases, money in some cases and, land and money in some cases; they have no problem,” he said.
The offshore pipeline is approximately 220 kilometres of a subsea pipeline that will run from the Destiny and Unity Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block. Upon landing on the West Coast Demerara shore, the pipeline will continue approximately 25 kilometres to a natural gas liquids processing plant (NGL Plant) at Wales.
As it relates to the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Nandlall reported that the administration acquired over 48 land/properties to construct the bridge and the connecting highways.
It was reported in October 2023 that the Government has to acquire lands at Nandy Park and Continental Park on the East Bank Demerara, where the alignment eastern side of the US$260 million Bridge will end.
Nandlall said on Tuesday evening that those properties were purchased. “We have bought out their properties, give them land, give them houses, bought out their land so that the bridge can be constricted, they included Indo-Guyanese, Afro-Guyanese and some Chinese Guyanese,” the AG said as he responded to comments of Afro-Guyanese being “throw off” their lands at Mocha, EBD.
The Mocha residents refer to seven squatters in the path of the East Bank Highway who were removed by the Government to allow the road works to continue.
The Attorney General referred to other projects completed by the Government in the past including the Hope Canal and the Berbice Bridge where private lands had to be acquired to facilitate developmental projects.
