…says PPP/C victimization of Afro-Guyanese professionals continues
In a statement on Thursday, Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon demanded the immediate release of Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC), Trevor Benn stating that his detention by the police represents the continuation of harassment and victimization of afro-Guyanese.
Benn was arrested on Wednesday morning for questioning by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in relation to the leasing of some six acres of land at Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD) to JANICO Industrial Engineering Limited in 2017. The lease of the land was secured for $27 million on May 8, 2017 for a 50-year period and with $200,000 rent per acre expected yearly.
However, according to GLSC Commissioner (ag) Enrique Monize, the land doesn’t exist. He told Attorney General, Anil Nandlall in a letter that research was done and he was “unable to determine any vacant, available land under the control of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission”.
Meanwhile, Manager of JANICO Compton Blair, in an exclusive interview with the Village Voice News, said that the transaction was not an underhand one but he believes that GLSC initially thought it had ownership of the land which was later said to belong to the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Ltd (NICIL).
In his statement on Thursday, Harmon accused the PPP/C regime of misusing the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to unlawfully incarcerate Afro-Guyanese professionals.
“This is most recently manifest in the baseless incarceration of Mr. Trevor Benn, the former Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission who is a consummate professional who has served with organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme among others,” Harmon stated, adding:
“The APNU+AFC is concerned that these actions are intended to provoke a certain segment of the population and we call on the PPP administration to cease and desist. There is a clear trend that has developed whereby charges are trumped up against professional Afro-Guyanese, knowing fully well that there is no case against them. The PPP however, seems to derive a twisted sense of pleasure from incarcerating innocent people for seventy-two hours, occasioning the most egregious abuses of our legal processes and making a mockery of entire legal system.”
Harmon further stated that it is an “established fact” that Benn did not personally benefit from the sale of any lands. He said that all monies paid for lands were paid into the State’s coffers and are now being “squandered by the PPP”. The Opposition Leader believes that the arrest of Benn is not meant only to humiliate but to divert attention from the Government’s “reckless and irresponsible spending”.
Harmon stated: “We wish to caution that the continued harassment and victimization of Afro-Guyanese professionals as well as supporters for the APNU+AFC is inimical to good governance and will further exacerbate racial and political tensions. The APNU+AFC condemns in the strongest possible terms the continued harassment of Afro-Guyanese professionals and APNU+AFC members and supporters by the PPP administration. We demand Mr. Benn’s immediate release.”
