Lands at Peter’s Hall resold following due legal process – Min. Singh tells National Assembly

Illegal land issuance at Peter’s Hall in 2018 led to government reselling to multiple buyers at market price after due legal process.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh confirmed this during Wednesday’s sitting of the National Assembly at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.

Dr Singh explained after entering office in August 2020, it was discovered that the previous administration, the APNU+AFC Coalition, illegally sold—and in some cases, ‘gave away’—plots of land in various areas.

After reviewing the respective leases and identifying policy breaches, the government engaged those who were allocated the lands.

These breaches, Dr. Singh explained, included allowing recipients to sell their properties to third parties, which some of them did, earning a large profit.

“That was the principal defect, that lease sale and assignment of rights could be done without reference to any state approval or state authority,” Dr. Singh highlighted.

While some persons recognised the illegality of the issuance and relinquished ownership, others opted to take the matter to court.

“One went to court and obtained a judgement. As a result of the engagement, taking into account the proceedings that were ongoing and ensuing in the court, and emerging from the engagements that we had with all the holders of the lands, the names that I have just identified are in fact the persons who agreed to a settlement with the state of Guyana, and we concluded those matters in the interest of bringing an orderly closure to these matters.

“So… there was no ‘selection’ on the part of the People’s Progressive Party government. These names were all inherited from the APNU+AFC, and these were all people who were granted highly defective lands, due process having not been followed,” the senior minister elaborated.

He added that some of the matters engaging the attention of the court are currently pending criminal charges.