Leonora Pasture residents get land titles, resolving 100-year-old land issue

Re s i d e n t s o f Leonora Pasture in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) on Friday received land titles giving them legal ownership of the lands they occupy.The titles were handed over to the residents by President Irfaan Ali during the last day of the Office of the PresidentDirect outreach at the Leonora Track and Field Facility on Friday This resolved the 100-year land issue.

The resolution was made possible by the concerted efforts of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), and the Land Registrar, that worked diligently to expedite the process.

The GLSC had already completed a plan in 1969, which aided in the process, and the remaining work was completedwithin24hours.

Minister of Housing and Water,CollinCroal,clarified that the area, which falls under the purview of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), has about 59 occupants.While the first 12 ownership documents were handed over, the remaining titles are still being processed.

“These are persons who are cleared and who were available within the last 24 hours The process will continue.

Those persons will have to come in to sign their agreement so that we can be clear that they are the occupants,” he further explained.

The minister said the Housing Ministry will also need to continue its occupationsurveyinthearea to verify that the individuals coming forward are the rightful occupants of the land.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke to some of the residents who expressed their gratitude to President Ali for his swift actions in granting them legal ownershipoftheirlands.

Eighty-one-year-old ShyamsundarRajkumarsaid he had been waiting for several decades for this moment and thanked the President and his team for finallyresolvingtheissue.

“This matter has been going on for years I applied for quite some time now, and after I heard about this event here I came and I'm happy to receive my title,”hesaid.

Premnaught, a single father of one shared that he has been trying to resolve this matter since 2014, and he is relieved that the opportunityhas finallycome for them to obtain legal ownership of their land.He expressedhisgratitudetothe president for doing a commendable job and ensuring thateverythingwas inorder

“Well, I feel great, very happy because I live here alone and I have one daughter and if anything wouldhavehappenedtomeI don't know who would have g o t t e n i t , ” h e related.Housing was one of the main issues addressed during the two-day outreach in Region Three, with the housing ministry engaging approximately 3,000 individuals during the activity

Alongside those who received title, over 300 people with pending applications in the region werealsograntedhouselots. Additionally, other residents were provided with the chance to apply for house lots, turn-key homes and the steelandcementsubsidy