More than 300 residents of North and South Vigilance, East Coast Demerara, who have occupied residential lands for decades with their dwelling houses thereon without formal legal ownership, will soon receive Certificates of Title for these lands following a Land Regularisation Exercise which was launched yesterday..
The announcement was made by the Mohabir Anil Nandlall SC MP, Attorney General & Minister of Legal Affairs, in the company of the Collin Croal, Minister of Housing & Water, during a meeting with residents of Vigilance North and South, yesterday.
Also in attendance at that meeting were Gladwin Charles, Director of Community Development at the Central Housing and Planning Authority and several staff members of that Agency, as well as officers of the Attorney General’s Chambers & Ministry of Legal Affairs.
Minister Croal informed the residents of Vigilance North that work has already begun on the regularisation exercise and that a team from CH&PA will return on Wednesday to facilitate the signing of the relevant documents. Additionally, a team will visit later this week to conduct a mapping of the area so that whatever adjustments have to be made to occupation can be discussed.
In Vigilance South, the CH&PA will begin an inventory exercise and occupational survey over the coming weeks to address any occupancy issues, after which the Ministry of Housing and Water will begin the process of transferring the lands from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) over to that Ministry so that individual Titles can then be issued. This will enable residents to proceed with utility installations.
Speaking to residents, the Attorney General reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to regularising land ownership in communities across the country. He noted that this initiative is part of the Government’s broader policy to empower citizens by providing them with legal ownership of the lands they occupy, and he encouraged residents to cooperate fully with the officials working on the project.
The Attorney General emphasised that this exercise is for the benefit of the residents as they will now become the legal owners of these lands and can use their Titles for many different purposes, including, passing it on to their descendants and using it to secure loans from commercial banks and other lending institutions. He informed the residents that the issuance of Title will also significantly increase the value of each property.
“Significantly, you are fortunate because the Government is bearing the cost of this exercise. The cost of this exercise runs into millions of dollars and would have cost each of you hundreds of thousands of dollars were you to undertake this exercise personally. Therefore, it is in your best interest to participate and fully cooperate with this exercise. If you do not, then you will be simply left behind,” the Hon. Attorney General said.
The Land Regularization Programme is an initiative of His Excellency, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and is being conducted in several regions across the country with the Government bearing the costs of this expensive and tedious exercise.
