Land Affairs Minister Jairam Seemungal is appealing to members of the public to report corrupt state land officials, accused of robbing Caroni workers of their residential and agricultural lands.
Speaking to reporters at a lease distribution function at M2 Ring Road, Debe, yesterday, Seemungal appealed to Caroni workers not to sell off their lands cheaply, saying a lot of residential land worth $30,000 in 2005 was today worth over $1 million.
He said the Government had removed the restrictive clause that prevented the sale and transfer of lands, and some former workers were now being hoodwinked by people purporting to represent the State.
“I have given no instruction to any officer of the State whatsoever to approach any Caroni worker on behalf of me, the ministry or Government to sell lands to them. That is a private negotiation between you and who comes to you. The State will in no way ask for these lands except if they are for public purposes. If they are, then the commissioner would have come to meet with you beforehand,” Seemungal explained.
He added, “Do not let persons come to you and fool you and tell you that they are coming to you on behalf of the State to sell your land. There are many people who are going around and approaching Caroni workers as if they are real estate agents and in some cases they are using the name of the ministry saying they are representing the State. I want to serve notice that no such instruction was given by this Government, the Prime Minister or the Minister of Land Affairs to represent us or the State in any transaction for the purchase or sale of land.”
Seemungal said if any Caroni worker was approached by ministry officials, the worker must get the name and position of the officials and report the matter immediately.
“You can lodge a complaint at the Land Settlement Agency. We have a commissioner of lands office in Penal, in El Socorro and a few small offices where reports can be made. We also have a website where you can contact us. I urge people to give a name and position of the corrupt official so we can have proper information that we can work with,” Seemungal said.
He also said that provisions were being made to help former workers build their own home on the residential lots through the Housing Support Centre.
“We will help you build a house in these lands. We have trained technicians, civil engineers and quantity surveyors who will assist you in the supervision of the construction of your own home,” Seemungal said. He also said he had instructed Caroni to ensure that all 8,855 former Caroni Vsep workers be allocated a plot of land.
“Many of those persons are worried about what will happen after elections in 2015 and whether, by a stroke of Cabinet, all works will be ceased,” Seemungal said. He explained, however, that each Caroni worker would receive a legal document so that even if their agreement was breached, they could take the matter to court.
Also attending the function was CEO of Caroni Kevin Singh and Junior Finance Minister Rudranath Indarsingh.