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Little or no access to land and the absence of a viable economic plan are among factors stymieing economic development in Linden, Upper Demerara- Upper Berbice (Region Ten), President of the Linden Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Development (LCICD), Victor Fernandes said.
Fernandes, in an interview with Village Voice Guyana, said the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) and the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL) have failed to meet the needs of Linden’s business community with regards to issuance of lands for commercial purposes.
The LCICD President said it appears that applications to the said entities have been languishing for some time while noting that the Commission’s slothfulness is a turn off for investors and severely hampering partnerships which could have blossomed into viable economic activities.
In December 2017, Trevor Benn, then Commissioner of the GLSC had disclosed that there were 32,000 applications in the system dating back to the 1980s.
Like Fernandes, Benn, had acknowledged that the process for acquiring lands is simply too longwinded.
“There is no structured distribution of land, especially for businesses in Region Ten,” Fernandes complained.
The LCICD President, who is a contractor, said it is approximately four years since he applied to the GLSC for two acres of land in Wisroc, Linden for the establishment of a manufacturing facility, and the application is still pending.
“All I got was a letter acknowledging receipt of my application and warning me that I should not embark on any kind of development until approval is granted,” Fernandes detailed, noting that his inspection fee has long been paid.
According to the GLSC website, there is a five-step process for the acquisition of leased lands: the Letter of Interest and Acknowledgment Letter form part of the first step while the other steps include inspection fee payment, field inspection and application on fee payment and submission; application verification; survey of land, plan preparation and plan registration; and finally, lease preparation, lease registration and lease delivery.
Fernandes said he is disappointed that after securing a partnership for the establishment of a factory for the production of construction materials, his application continues to languish despite the fact that he provided the Commission with a detailed business plan.
He said the situation is the same for other investors who have approached both GLSC and NICIL for the acquisition of lands for commercial and industrial use.
Fernandes told Village Voice Guyana that he is not the only businessman who has suffered as a result of the slothfulness of GLSC and NICIL. He said a businessman operates a car dealership in Linden out of a rented facility because his application for a plot of land is still pending after many years.
According to him, SOL Guyana had once planned to establish a fuel bond in Linden to service mining and logging companies in the interior locations but that too did not materialize because lands were not made available.
“The Chamber would like to see businesses be given some consideration, some amount of priority. We would like to see that businesses are given the respect they deserve and the support that would allow them to be a part of the transformation of the Town. As it is right now, Linden, Region Ten is dire need of some transformation. Linden is least developed not because we don’t have developmental opportunities or investors don’t come our way, but simply because the processes seem not to be very much responsive to applicants and investors’ requests,” the LCICD President reasoned.
ECONOMIC PLAN
Meanwhile, Fernandes like former Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon, believes that Region Ten is desperately in need of a viable economic plan to drive growth and development there.
“First of all, Linden has got to have a plan, and if there is no plan, there will be no direction,” the LCICD President posited.
He posited that it was because of the lack of cohesiveness and a clear developmental agenda that resulted in an ongoing dispute over the area covering the blue lake at Kara Kara, Linden.
NICIL and the Guyana Initiative Against Climate Change (GIACC) Incorporated have been at loggerheads over the decision by the former administration to rescind a lease for over 500 acres of land in the vicinity of Kara Kara’s Blue Lake. The matter is now engaging the attention of the Court.
It is GIACC’s intention to invest in a mega renewable energy plant within the identified area. In its project plan, GIACC had outlined that its entire operation, should it be granted approval, would be powered by renewable energy and will encompass a 500-acre solar farm. Additionally, GIACC is hoping to manufacture two types of fertilizers at the site.
“So these investors were of course Lindeners as well, and they had intention of creating jobs for Linden, and the unfortunate thing, there was not a buy in from all parties,” Fernandes said while noting that had the project received the necessary support some 500 jobs would have been created at a time when the Region’s economy is struggling.
Given the persistent challenges, and the need for a clear plan, the LCICD President underscored the need for a Town and Country Planner to complement the work of the Linden Mayor and Town Council (M&TC) and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
With such a planner in place, Fernandes posited, that there can be clearly outlined zones – Residential, Commercial and Industrial.
“There must be a clear distinction for business and residential zones and what we don’t want to see is our prime location occupied by saw mills. Saw mills should not be given the first tier along our main thoroughfare,” he told this publication.
Fernandes opined that the town’s main thoroughfares, such as the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, which runs through the Town, should be bordered by hotels, malls and parks among other attractive facilities.
“Saw mills have their place but we shouldn’t be seeing a whole set of logs, you want to show case your town you want to show case things that will be more attractive,” he posited.
In a separate interview, Solomon had underscored the need for a viable plan to transform the economic landscape of the town and region at large to foster development and simultaneously create much needed jobs.
Solomon had pointed out that the August 21, 2012 agreement, which had brought an end to a deadly and fiery unrest in the town, was intended to address issues stymieing development in the region.
Among committees outlined in the agreement was that of a Regional Economic Committee with a mandate to create an economic development plan for Linden and by extension Region Ten, and a Land Selection Committee but eight years after, little to no progress has been made in the formation of the committees.
Solomon said that with Guyana poised for unprecedented growth, as a result of its budding oil and gas industry, a Regional Economic Plan is even more important now. For him, it’s important for the Region to reposition itself to benefit from the windfall while maximizing on its natural resources and non-traditional sectors such as agriculture, tourism and trade.
