Thousands to receive land titles for properties under defunct co-ops

Thousands of land titles will be issued to citizens whose properties are tied up in defunct co-op societies, said Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
The Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Attorney General’s Chamber is preparing to distribute over 200 titles to first-time owners in Essequibo before the end of the month.
Nandlall, during his ‘Issues in the News’ programme on Tuesday, announced that the titles will be issued to residents of Walton Hall, Essequibo, whose lands are currently under the co-op’s block title.
Nandlall explained that although the co-op society owned the land, it became defunct decades ago, with its original members either deceased or having migrated, while the village remained under a single block transport.
“What the Government of Guyana has done through the Ministry of Legal Affairs is conduct an occupational survey for both the homestead and agricultural lands, the lands at the back of the village,” Nandlall explained.
He said the government is regularising all the occupants, starting with the house lots and then moving on to the cultivation plots. So far, more than 200 properties have been regularised in this regard.
“These people never had titles before… now over 200 families will be handed transports by the end of this month,” Nandlall reiterated.
Additionally, another 60 families are expected to receive land titles for the first time in Pomeroon River, where another defunct co-op exists.
Nandlall added that in West Coast Berbice, where more than 200 titles have already been issued, more communities are expected to be regularised.
“We are working on thousands of transports and/or certificates of title along the West Coast of Berbice, spanning several villages starting from Cotton Tree,” the Attorney General said.
He noted that apart from Essequibo, the government is also looking into the regularisation of properties on the West and East Coast of Demerara.
He also revealed that these services to regularise the co-op lands are being provided at no cost to the residents. He stated that the Government of Guyana has borne the costs for surveying the lands, regularising them, and issuing the documentation.