Compensation centre at Friendship Methodist Church from Monday
Georgetown, GINA, February 16, 2008
A compensation centre for farmers affected by the Joint Services operation ‘Restore order’ will be established at the Friendship Methodist Church, 23 Friendship Road, Friendship, East Coast Demerara from Monday, February 18, and would be open from 09:00 h to 17:00h daily.
Persons eligible to make claims are those farming on the land, persons who own or have permission to farm on lands and farmers granted approval by a competent authority to plant on lands.
Compensation will be awarded based on evidence by film done by the Joint Services or any other acceptable means indicating appropriate details that farming has been affected.
The authorized panel would comprise Representatives of: the Ministry of Agriculture; the Joint Services; the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
In cases of dispute, the basis for such will be initially dealt with by a conducting panel. Disputes about land ownership and/or authority to plant/occupy lands would be subjected to inputs from: villagers; NDC authorities/records and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission/Land Registry.
Once compensation is agreed to, a standard contract would be established and formalized. Payments would be made promptly.
The Joint Services had initially established a desk at Police headquarters, Eve Leary. However, this was subsequently moved to the Vigilance Police station, closer to residents who are/ or will be affected by the clearing activities.
The Joint Services began to clear the backland of villages between Enmore and Beterverwagting/ Triumph to create a line-of-sight for villagers making it difficult for bandits to use it as a cover.
The operation was launched after calls from the communities affected by crime and sections of the media following the January 26 massacre at Lusignan. Bandits had used the thick bushes to cover their escape.
Since the launch of the clearing exercise two bandits were killed when the Joint Services ranks encountered a group of men who opened fire on them.
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Government Ministers say it is not the time for division
Georgetown, GINA, February 16, 2008
Speaking on the programme Operation Restore Order, part three, aired on the National Communications Network (NCN) today, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Jennifer Webster said that the People’s National Congress /Reform (PNC/R) should have joined in the recent debate in Parliament on the Lusignan shooting and publicly condemn the killings.
She stated that now is not the time for Guyana to be divided.
“We should really come together as one. We should not be showing that we are divided on this issue because law and order and public safety is everybody’s business and it could be anyone of us and that is why I think and it was publicly said that we will be open to discussions on the issue,” the Minister reiterated.
The Finance Minister believes that all Guyanese are looking on keenly to see what is going to happen and urged all responsible citizens to join forces to rid the society of criminal elements.
“Crime has taken on different dimensions in our society and we have to look at all the issues related to it and it has impacted the lives of us all and it would affect our young people,” she noted.
Minister Webster opined that Buxton has been the main focus of what happened in the community and pointed out that many of its residents are law-abiding citizens but because of fear they do not want to come out and publicly condemn what is happening within.
“They are afraid and I think the Joint Services have been given that mandate to work with the community toward law and order and I want to urge the residents of that community to support the efforts and the work of the Joint Services,” Minister Webster said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Housing and Water, Harry Narine Nawbatt, who was also a guest on the programme said the Opposition lost out on a good opportunity to debate the brutal January 26 killings since they did not return to Parliament following the break on Thursday.
“I am confident that they could have gotten up there and spoken of the massacre and condemned it. I would have hoped that they would have condemned it and said that it is not something that should have happened,” the Housing Minister stressed.
On the issue of Buxton, he referred to a family which he said lost loved ones particularly because they were not in favour of what was going on in the village.
He stated that what is needed is for the Opposition to admit that Buxton is an area that criminals go to when they commit their crimes and during the period of hiatus between when they commit their crimes.
“I don’t think anyone in Guyana would doubt Buxton has criminals in it like many other communities but Buxton has been focused on because of the activities that take place within,” he concluded.
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