Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 June 2026, 21:59 by Writer
The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) is taking steps to clear backlogged applications for lands, even as that entity accelerates the use of modern land management technologies, Commissioner Enrique Monize said on Tuesday.
He told a GLSC 25th anniversary awards ceremony that that semi-autonomous agency was surveying thousands of acres of land in nine of the 10 administrative regions — except Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).
Mr Monize said those lands were transferred directly to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
“As a matter of fact, we are currently working on 8,000 acres more land for this year for CH&PA to help them to bring their backlog in the other regions except four, I think, to zero,” he said.
The GLSC commissioner’s announcement came just days after the CH&PA said the new digital single window system for applying, processing and approving land and construction requests has recorded an overall 21 percent reduction in backlogged residential applications and a one percent increase in non-residential applications.
CH&PA Research Officer Kimberly Cosbert told the just-concluded Building Expo 2026 that since its launch in June 2024, to date, there were 8,513 residential (64.3 percent residential) and non-residential (35.7 percent) applications.
Of the 7,590 remaining applications, 3,535 have been closed and 4,055 are still being processed. “This shows actually that the system is being used and applications are being moved from one stage to the other,” she said.
The GLSC commissioner said a task force was moving around Guyana to “inventorise” files and at the commission’s regional offices, remove dormant files and clear up backlogs.
He said that approach had resulted in a “significant decline” in complaints at outreaches.
In passing reference to land-grabbing, Mr Monize said on Monday last someone was trying to claim the old toll station land at Hog Stye.
As a result, he said GLSC surveyed the land to preserve it for possible use by the public works ministry to install scales.
“Government land has to be left to do government business. We cannot just give everything away,” he also said.
The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission was established on the Act No. 15 of 1999 with the commencement date being June 1, 2001.
That entity succeeded the Department of Lands and Surveys, formerly under the ministry of agriculture, under Ordnance 9 of 1873 which had established the Crown Lands Department.
Mr Monize said the GLSC was currently revising maps, and already the Georgetown map was 90 percent complete.
He also said a new set of maps for coastal and developed areas was being produced.
The GLSC commissioner had embarked on another project to prepare or update regional land use plans for Region Three (West Demerara-Essequibo Islands) and Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) “which was never done”.
He added that the GLSC would re-examine the draft national land use plan to also update that.
Meanwhile, President Irfaan Ali said his government wanted a modern, efficient, transparent and citizen-centered land administration system.
He hoped the commission would be able to generate readily accessible and increasingly digitised records and decisions could be made using accurate and reliable data.
He said his government was keen on having stronger geographic information systems that support planning and development across the country, and provide greater certainty and security of tenure for citizens, farmers, businesses and communities.
“We want institutions that work seamlessly together in support of national development, and we want a system that balances economic growth with responsible stewardship of our land resources for future generations,” he said.
