New rights holder to controversial BV lands refunded John Fernandes Limited

Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 October 2022, 22:47 by Denis Chabrol

A company, which has purportedly taken over the rights to 143.10 acres of land aback Beterverwagting village, East Coast Demerara, refunded John Fernandes Limited (JFL) GY$20 million but the latter company said it has not seen any proof that the lands are privately-owned.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, JFL said it returned the BV-Triumph Neighbourhood Council’s GY$20 million cheque because it could not take money twice for the same transaction, having been already refunded by Mohamed and Sons and Daughters, Trading, Mining, Logging and Construction Inc. “ JFL, however, was not in a position to legitimately accept any refund as that would have resulted in the company collecting the deposit twice,” the company said in a statement.

While JFL said it never saw any proof that the acreage was ancestral lands meant to be owned by their descendants or that persons had ownership for some parts of the land by title, it is no longer interested in doing so now. “ JFL however has never seen any evidence of claims to title of the land and is therefore not in a position to support or deny the legitimacy of its sale. Further, JFL is not interested in seeing these documents as JFL is no longer proceeding with the purchase,” the company said.

The company insisted that it was was no longer had any interest in acquiring that said land and so would not be interested in seeing such information. “While no evidence was produced to legitimize these claims, JFL decided not to proceed with the purchase, a position which remains the same to date,” that company said.

JFL, which had entered into a purchase agreement with the Council to acquire the land, said it was now left to the Court to settle the controversy over the ownership of the land which it had hoped to acquire for future development. JFL would not support any illegitimate sale of land, however, it remains a matter for the judicial system to determine whether this is the case. “

JFL said it wanted to  “state unequivocally”,  that it is not connected or conducting business with Mohamed and Sons and Daughters, Trading, Mining, Logging and Construction Inc, in apparent reaction to reported claims that Mohammed’s was fronting for JFL.

The BV-Triumph Council has said it could not sell what it does not own, in apparent refusal to process the conveyancing for the award of title. Mohamed’s has since asked the court for the Registrar