Guest Column

guyanacaribbeanpolitics.com

The systematic raping of black land..where are our politicians and our lawyers
by Eric Phillips

Posted October 19th.2010

The Constitution of Guyana protects land owners from thievery and from the Government of the day. If someone owns "titled" lands, those in charge of Lands & Survey or those in Government cannot give another person a lease on someone else's titled lands. Only the owner of that land can do this. Otherwise, this would be illegal. This would be criminal. This would be an act of pure premeditated malice.

Growing up in Mahaicony with my father who was a Pharmacist, and with my grandmother who was a Nurse Midwife, I was often amazed at the extreme acts of violence between family members and strangers over land. I could never understand it especially when some people drank poison in these disputes. Today, much has not changed in land disputes as I see the same passion in the many of these situations. Over the last several years, in outreaches to different parts of Guyana, ACDA has been exposed to through complaints about family land disputes, ancestral lands and the barefaced encroachment of people's lands in a conspiracy to obtain prescriptive rights.

Land has done this to people since time immemorial. The mess the United States has faced in the Middle East started with Iraq invading and claiming Kuwaiti lands. Land is such an issue of deep passions that many brutal wars have been fought over it.

In Guyana, and especially over the last 15 years, some "connected" and often rich Indo Guyanese have barefacedly been trying to steal lands owned by African Guyanese. Through gangsterism, bullyism, rank corruption and a rip-van-winkle court.... "malice and arrogance" have replaced the Rule of Law.

In many cases, African lawyers have joined with Indian and other lawyers to outright assist in this gross immorality and pure thievery. They conspire to "steal" from the innocent and "titled". They, the upholders of the Law.....abuse their position of legal privilege and stamp on the human rights of poor Guyanese of all races. Often, these lawyers suck their African clients dry, thereby forcing them to settle and give in to these modern day thugs who prey on the innocent, often in the name of God. The Police, citing ignorance of the Law and under the influence of paymasters and political fear, continue this chain of constitutional brigandry, having become willing participants in this mockery of the Law and outright criminality.

Insatiable greed, "runnings" at Lands & Survey, fake leases, bullyism , gansterism, an overburdened court system, corruption most high and people without courage to do what is right, make this 'carnival of thieving of African lands, a stark reality . This situation of outright criminality in land disputes in Guyana has been barely stemmed on the other hand by the indefatible will of the targeted "disenfranchised" and their willingness to die for what is rightly theirs.

On 25 March this year, ACDA was approached by Mrs. Joan Straughn and her husband Gerald for help with a land dispute with my Shairaz Ali who owns Two Brothers and many other businesses in Parika and across Guyana. Mr. and Mrs. Straughn showed us documents that established they are the legal and rightful owners of Parcel 917 on the Essequibo River. This land is situated next to the gas and oil selling operations of Mr. Shairaz Ali. This parcel along with nine other parcels of land is inherited ancestral lands which Mrs. Straughn legally obtained from her father Mark Levy in 1954 and was TITLED in 1983. These official documents were verified by ACDA. The Straughns also provided another official document that showed their taxes have been paid up fully and continuously until December 2010. In essence, these lands never fell into default.

The letter from the Straughn family to ACDA read as follows:

"My family and ancestors have beneficially occupied the said lands in Parika for a long time. The description of the said portion of land known in the village book as lot "NH" can be found on a diagram by J.A.P Bowell a sworn land surveyor deposited in the Registrar of Georgetown on January 15th 1898. My grandfather Mr. Thomas Anderson occupied this property on Transport 340 dated 21st August 1933 and my ancestors before him. On August 7th 1957 my father secured transport No: 1475 for the said portion of land. In 1972 Parika was declared a Land Registry Area and the land described in Transport No: 1475 were subdivided into different parcels. On the 5th of December 1974 my father Tyrell August Levy obtained the certificate of title for all his lands held previously under transport No. 1475. The Certificate of title is No. 467 of 1974 and consists of 10 parcels of land. On June 11, 1983 my father passed to my brother Mark Levy all the parcels of lands held under No. 467 of 1974. This was done by a judicial process before the Commissioner of Title and Judge of the Land Court. Parcel 917 Zone R.B.E.R Block VII is one of the parcels on No. 467 of 1974.

At the very moment Mr. Alli is digging up our property, he has parked a dragline and recently beached a trawler on our property. These acts of blatant covetousness and harassment is wearing on our spirits and is beginning to fill us with despair. This man has destroyed our fruit trees, plum, locust, banana, jamoom,Awara etc. Sir these very fruit trees was used to assist us in the paying of our taxes for the maintenance of our land. What Mr. Alli is doing is systematically denying us the right to develop our selves economically and seems bent on putting us on the breadline. A most wicked act.

Mr. Shairaz Ali has been after Parcel 917 for over 10 years. He was taken to court and found in contempt after a restraining order was ignored by him since 1994. Yet he has continued to build on Parcel 917 without permission from the Straughn. It seems as if Mr. Shairaz Ali is bigger than the law (an untouchable) as he has refused to stop building . He has had a crane on the Straughn's land since 1994. He has built fences and other impediments on Parcel 917 and every time they are broken down, regardless of the law and the fact that he does not own the land, has continued to build because he is "connected" and rich. He completely ignores the court. He is the "boss man" in that area.

On 1 March 2000, Mr. Shairaj Ali, having not been able to occupy Parcel 917 and having not succeeded with his intimidation and criminally unlawful behaviour, came up with a new conspiratorial strategy. He arrived with a lease from the Government of Guyana for Parcel 917 and other nearby juicy land sections, including land belonging to the Parika Baptist Church. The lease which was signed by the Commissioner of Lands did not have an end date nor was it signed or notarised by a surveyor. The number assigned to the lease "A12158 " cannot be found at Lands & Survey and apparently is not recorded anywhere. Since this time, Mr. Shairaz Ali has maliciously used this "lease" of land belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Straughns to fight them in Court. This case has reached the Chief Justice who just recently asked Mr. Ali whether they would want to continue with a case when the title is in the name of the Straughns. Bold facedly, Mr. ALI through his lawyers said they wanted to. (This of course, is to keep the matter in court and to prevent the straughn from using their own land).

To add insult to injury, Mr. Shairaz Ali has filed a court case against the Straughn for trespassing on Mr. Ali land even though he knows the land belongs to them. In essence is trying to drain their financial resources so that they will give in to him.

Over the last two months, Mr. Shairaz Ali has fenced the Straughn out of their own lands and has placed a huge tank on their land. He intends to expand his business regardless of the illegality of his occupation of some else titled lands. To add insult to injury, Mr. Shairaz Ali had the Parika Police Station arrest the person who was hired by Mr. Straughn to remove the fence and placed him on bail last Friday , after there was a confrontation on the land.

The confrontation resulted when the 12 African workers who were on site refused to move after threats of violence by Mr. Shairaz Ali who had arrived with 12 men to remove them from the titled lands OF Mr. Straughn There would have been serious violence had the police not been brought to the scene by Mr. Shairaz Ali.

Strangely enough, Mr. Paul, a member of the Guyana Police Force who is stationed at Lenora was the person who called the Parika Police station to hold both the contractor and Mr. Shairaz Ali at the Parika Station but Mr. Shairaz Ali was allowed to leave while the contractor was held. Threats of violence were issued by Mr. Ali in front of the Parika Police on Parcel 917.

Policeman Paul then almost created bedlam at the Police station when he told the Straughns that they could not be on Parcel 917 but Mr. Shairaz Ali could. He in essence because judge and jury and perhaps does not know that titled land cannot be leased or occupied without the permission of the owner.

Mr. Editor, this situation is at a boiling point and needs to be carefully watched. The courts, the Police, the Lands and Survey are all at fault. The Chief Justice needs to ask Lands and Survey to show proof that Parcel 917 belongs to the State as that is the only way the State can give Mr. Shairaz Ali a lease, whether the lease document is fake or real.

This case smacks of fraud, conspiracy, brigandry, corruption and malice. This has been going on all across the country on African Lands.

This time for this gangsterism to stop is now. Mr. Shairaz Ali should be criminally charged if the lease is fraudulent and put in jail. The individuals at Lands and Survey should be fired and charged with conspiracy to defraud. The Police at Leonora should be given a lie detector test to ascertain his relationship with Mr. Ali.

Finally, Mr. Shairaz Ali needs to remove his tank and crane from the titled property of the Struaghns whom have had this land in their family for generations.

Failure to do these things will highlight that Africans have no rights in this country. This is an egregious case and is full of malice. This is a great travesty that can make this country more unstable.