Guyana running out of coastal land to distribute- Ali

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 October 2023, 20:26 by Denis Chabrol

President Irfaan Ali addressing the Canada-Guyana Chamber of Commerce’s Maple Leaf Ball

President Irfaan Ali has said that Guyana is running out of large acreages of land on the coastal strip.

Speaking at the recently held Guyana-Canada Chamber of Commerce Dinner and Awards, he said, “the reality is that we don’t have that land now on the coast.”

He said he asked for pictures of new developments asked for pictures of the new developments “so people can understand how close we are to the wetlands and the conservancy now.” Contacted for a perspective, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, Enrique Monize said, “I don’t speak to the media”.

“There is a myth: Yes, we have plenty lands but 89 percent of it is forest that we’re not going to cut down so even our lifestyle and our living arrangement would have to be adjusted,” he said.

The President gave no indication what those new arrangements could be, but earlier in his address he said government was forecasting that Guyana’s population would eventually be grow to about 3 million, up from ab0ut 750,000 persons.

“This is just the reality. I’m telling you the reality of a Guyana 2030 and what we’re building, where we’re heading and the kind of opportunity,” he said.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Joslyn Mc Kenzie had first raised the concern about the proximity of new developments to the conservancy.