‘We hope good sense prevails’

…Cevons says paid $100M for properly valued at $47M
…CEO stumped by actions of the government

By Svetlana Marshall
Approximately two years after it paid $100M for a plot of land at Area C, Tract B Le Repentir, Georgetown, Cevons Waste Management Inc. has been instructed to vacate the premises by March 31, 2021 by the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, on the grounds that it is property of the National Sports Commission (NSC).

“We were taken by surprise,” Owner and Chief Executive Officer of Cevons Waste Management Inc., Morse Archer told Village Voice News on Wednesday, as he reacted to the missive served to him by the Attorney General.

In a letter dated Tuesday, February 16, 2021, the Attorney General, acting on behalf of the NSC, the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), and the Government, informed Archer that the lease granted to Cevons on December 18, 2018 for a period of 50 years is of no effect, and as such the land must be returned.
According to the Attorney General, the lands leased to Cevons are owned by the NSC by Act No. 23 of 1993 – a body corporate that is separate and apart from Lands and Surveys Commission.
“…the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) had no legal authority to lease the said land to your company or anyone else. Indeed, there every purported dealing with the said lands is unlawful, null, void and of no effect. Accordingly, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and lease which contain a promise to sell the lands to your company are both unlawful, void and of no effect,” the Attorney General said.

Further, he said the power to sell State lands, does not reside in the Commissioner but rather the President by virtue of Section 3 (1) of the State Lands Act, Chapter 62:01.

But Archer told Village Voice News that there was nothing unlawful about the transaction he conducted with the Lands and Surveys Commission. According to him, he followed all of the required legal procedures.

“We went through all of the application process,” Archer said while noting that permission was granted at all three tiers – at the level of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, the Central Housing and Planning Authority and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.

Notably, Archer said Cevons Waste Management Inc. was made to pay $100M for the land although a government valuation had estimated the value to be in the vicinity of $47M.

“We had a government valuation of $47M; they throw that out and we had to pay $100M instead. So it is not as though we were specially favoured, because the government valuation was $47M and we were made to pay $100M,” the CEO said.

The Attorney General, in the letter, said he had taken note of the fact that Cevons had paid “a substantial sum of money” for the property, however, such a payment is not catered for in the State Lands Act and Regulations.

“That this entire transaction was done without the knowledge and authority of the owner of the lands, the National Sports Commission (NSC), simply compounds the impropriety, and illegality which permeated it,” the Attorney General said.

But in expressing his shock and surprise at the eviction notice served to him, Archer said not only was the land secured since 2018, but the land was under construction for approximately one year.

“We were taken by surprise, because as far as I am concerned, we have been building there unhindered, nobody told us anything, and it is over a year, the building took us to construct and it’s only two weeks ago we moved into the building,”  Archer explained.

Though the Attorney General has given him an ultimatum, Archer is hoping that good sense prevails.

“I am hoping that it doesn’t reach to that [legal action]; I am hoping that good reason would prevail and it doesn’t reach to that, we are hoping that it doesn’t reach to that,” he said.

Archer pointed out that though fairly young, Cevons has been contributing to the development of Guyana, and has in its employ over 200 persons. “We have been trying, all we know is business, and that is all we have been doing. We try to stay focus, we are a very young company and we are hoping that justice will prevail, and things will sort itself out,” he said.

Up to press time, the company had not responded formally to the Attorney General.