By Nicole Telford- The People’s Progressive Party/Civic government has been moving at alarming haste to dispossess residents from lands.
Another incident recently occurred on the East Coast of Guyana at Non Pareil D Housing Co-op Society Ltd where the Government, using the Guyana Police Force, along with strong arm tactics has sought to claim lands from the residents of the Melanie Damishana area.
Members of the co-op referred to their documentation of the co-op to draw attention to the matter. One co-op member explained, during a Facebook live at the site, that “ we had filed an injunction in 2010 against the government for the co-op land, the matter was concluded in May of 2016, an order was given but the order had disappeared from Guyana’s Court Registry and we went back and got the order from Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes”
The co-op member further explained that “the PPP/C administration had stolen 527 house lots from the housing co-op in 2010 and that had prompted the court proceedings.” The co-op was established in 1974 under the housing drive, during Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham People’s National Congress administration.
Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs Amanza Walton-Desir, during the 2023 Budget Debate in the National Assembly, addressed the land grab by the PPP/C Government. Walton-Desir, drawing attention to what is now contention issue, that could heighten ethnic tension and division, made known the PPP is dispossessing people of a certain ethnicity who have land.
The shadow minister alluded to the fact Afro Guyanese are heavily involved in co-operatives and in cooperative land and warned the PPP/C’s action “is a clear and present danger to the constitutional rights and freedom of Guyanese.”
The Member of Parliament went further in noting the PPP is “coming after our property, freedom of speech and coming after our way of life”
As at 2010 Guyana had over 1000 Co-op Societies in communities countrywide. They consist of large and small co-operative societies, agricultural, farming, fishing, supermarket, Police co-operatives and others. These cooperatives were organised to allow for sustainable living, while affording citizens across Guyana the opportunity to acquire land and build homes at costs affordable to current salary scale in any given year.
Walton-Desir amplified her distaste in an August 14, 2023 Press Release “Government’s Interference in legally owned land.’ According to her, given the government’s hostile attitude towards some citizens on land ownership and the ability to own a home, “it is a stark reminder that our struggle for property rights and equality is far from over.”
Explaining that Cooperatives have been an essential part of Guyana, driven by hardworking individuals from diverse backgrounds contributing not just to their own livelihoods but to the overall growth of our society, she said “The government’s role includes safeguarding the constitutional rights of every citizen, irrespective of their ethnic background or political affiliation.
Since the government came to power in 2020 residents in communities countrywide have been given short notices to move from prime real estate locations. Many residents have suffered their homes and businesses being bulldozed, animals killed or left homeless to the value of tens of millions. Some of the communities are Came View Mocha Arcadia, Hillfoot on the Linden Soesdyke Highway and others.
