An estimated 1000 acres of lands previously owned by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has been sold to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
It is unclear the location of these lands but the CH&PA will most likely utilise it for housing projects.
“We have given Central Housing and Planning in excess of 500 acres (of land),” Heath-London explained. “Up to recently, a month ago, we gave them close to 300 acres – so in excess of 1000 acres,” said Colvin Heath-London, NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU) Head.
The SPU is tasked overseeing the privatisation and divestment of the sugar industry.
A total of 20,000 hectares of land are to be divested from all the estates.
GuySuCo, in their recapitalisation plan, had prescribed a certain acreage of non-arable land – land that was not in sugar cane production – to be sold to garner the funding for their recapitalisation.
These lands are separate from those lands in production.
Furthermore, Heath-London explained that land around the estates being divested would not be sold to investors but would be leased based on their production needs.
“The agricultural land around the three estates will remain the property of the people of Guyana. And these lands will be leased to the investors to provide for their production needs. The factories and the land surrounding the factories, in most cases 15 to 20 acres, will be sold in some arrangement with these investors to engender some longevity.
“We don’t want to enter into arrangements with investors who will take the assets and then, in a few months or years, shove the assets down. So we’re looking for investors in it for the long haul,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic has called for full disclosure of the deals with regards to the sales of land.
