Legal Affairs Minister hosts outreach in Annandale
Over 150 people turned up at Annandale, East Coast Demerara today for an outreach exercise with Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Hon. Mohabir Anil Nandlall.
Persons from all over capitalised on the opportunity to meet the Minister to air their grievances, most of which centred on land disputes and other legal matters, and social problems. Minister Nandlall explained that the activity is part of a national Government outreach aimed at addressing the needs of the people at the community level.
“During our campaign, the PPP/C Government promised that it will not only govern from the offices in Georgetown, but that it will reach out to people right across the length and breadth of Guyana,” he said.
Minister Nandlall has Parliamentary responsibility for the East Coast Demerara. In keeping with this, he said while he would be venturing out across the regions, it is important that he establishes a permanent presence in the area which falls within his purview.
“The Ministry in Georgetown does not have the physical space or facility to accommodate this kind of exercise, so I decided to come here. People from Georgetown come here, people from Berbice, Essequibo, West Bank and so this is a central location,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ajay Suroj travelled all the way from Berbice to seek the Minister’s advice on a land matter that was settled in the court. The man said the judge ruled in his favour on August 11, 2020, but he is yet to receive the written order from the court.
Minister Nandlall said he regretted the slothfulness of the court and hoped that the process could be fast-tracked so that the issue could be put to rest.
Another resident, Ms. Jennifer Rose, who represented her daughter Ms. Candacy English, relayed that she bought land from a named entity for over $1 million, which she started paying for three years ago and is yet to receive any documentation.
The Minister said this may be a case of fraud, which must be probed by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
While his Ministry may not be able to deal with all of the issues, Minister Nandlall committed that the matters will be submitted to the relevant ministries and agencies to be addressed.