MMA repossession, reallocation of state lands moves one step further

MMA repossession, reallocation of state lands moves one step further
Guyana Chronicle news item. Wednesday 14 May 2008

THE repossession and reallocation of State Lands in the Mahaica/Mahaicony Abary (MMA) Project Area (Abary/Berbice) and MARDS in the Mahaicony area for this year is now being moved a step further in order to complete the exercises for the coming autumn crop.

Commencing last Monday the Authority will be reviewing the responses by persons to the Public Notices placed in the Newspapers for the different areas, and send reports to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Office of the President for final instructions and approvals, a release from MMA said.

“The order of review will follow the order of the original publication of the notices/warnings which started a month ago.”

“The Authority is again warning persons, especially those who rent lands from others, not to go into occupation of these lands unless they are in receipt of written approval to do so.”

“They are further advised that neither the Office of the President, nor the Ministry of Agriculture, nor the MMA Authority, will be responsible for any losses or inconvenience they may suffer as a result of their unauthorized and illegal occupation of any of these lands.”

“The Authority is also advising those persons who have filed Expressions of Interest to be allocated plots being repossessed that this step of the process is slated to start sometime during next week.

“Further, Expressions of Interest will continue to be received and the Authority is encouraging Expressions from persons residing in the same villages where the plots are located. Expressions are also welcomed from independent young families who have no access to lands. A form is available at the Authority’s Head Office for those who are desirous of expressing interest into the lands,” the release said.

The MMA Authority added that over the past weeks it has been giving notices and issuing warnings to persons who have been exercising control over various tracts of State Lands within the MMA Project Area (Abary/Berbice) and MARDS in the Mahaicony/Abary area, but have not been paying the necessary drainage and irrigation charges.

“This is in spite of the fact that about seventy-five percent (75%) of these lands are rented out by these ‘quasi’ landlords to other farmers who have been cultivating and paying exorbitant rents to those in control,” the release said.

In addition, the MMA Authority charged that in more than ninety percent (90%) of these cases there are no leases and many persons have been controlling multiple tracts using the names of relatives and others in order to hide the true position.

“Also, many of these people for whom rents are collected on their behalf are living overseas but they continue to exercise control over these State Lands.”

“This exercise to repossess and reallocate started a year ago and the debts that have accumulated are mostly between 2000 to 2007 when the rates were reduced and farmers were responsible for the maintenance of the system, the Authority having reconciled the accounts at the end of 1999, giving substantial write-offs.”

“From January 2008 the Authority has resumed responsibility for the secondary system and is vigorously enforcing rate collection in order to maintain the system after the rehabilitation exercise currently underway,” the release stated.