GLSC to develop 6000 acres of public land in Reg. 4

DPI, Guyana, Monday, December 9, 2019

For the first time in close to 40 years, the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GL&SC) is making available some 6,000 acres of public land for development in Region Four.

Commissioner Trevor Benn said the entity has initiated planning for the opening of the lands given the increase in demand, particularly in the Demerara-Mahaica region.

“We have designed a plan consisting of infrastructure that will see us removing the issues of space and ensuring that we have a more structured land use in place,” he told journalists at his year-end press conference on Monday.

Though not yet identified, the commissioner said the land would be utilised for commercial, light industrial, and residential purposes.

“We have started with the designs. We are working with various government agencies to get their buy-in and input to get what a modern 21^st-century community would look like. What we are seeing and hearing from them is that we want a community that we don’t have to go back in 10 years to build new roads and new hospitals spaces,” he said.

Commissioner Benn explained that because of the lapse in time, there is currently little infrastructure with which the commission could work. It is, however, working with a plan that will see a comfortable occupancy space for the new landowners.

“What we want is to give you enough space to allow you to build a decent house, have a garden. So, this is the design that we are working with to make sure that we have not only adequate space for houses, but we want to make sure there are green spaces.”

The idea is to ensure that there is a good mixture of commerce, housing and business in the respective communities.

Land was last opened in Region Four during the early 1980s in the Mahaica Mahaicony and Abary area, particularly for agricultural purposes.