Standoff over Critchlow Labour College with private university’s principal

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 February 2026, 23:59 by Writer

A legal tussle over the rights to the Critchlow Labour College (CLC) land and buildings on Thursday almost erupted into a physical confrontation as advanced plans were afoot to break down the gates and fence to the property on Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.

An excavator was taken to the location to demolish the three structures, but the plans were quickly aborted after the operator seemed fearful of physical harm after the lessee, Mr Stanley Paul, who repeatedly and vociferously cautioned that he would take necessary action to defend “my property.”

“Sir! You driving this excavator? This is my property and if you go to attempt to break down the gate, what come so do. This property has dispute. You don’t let anybody use you to put you in any trouble,” he said

Among those present at the scene were CLC Board Secretary Lincoln Lewis and CLC official Lelon Saul.

Principal of University of Excellence, Management and Business (UEMB) Stanley Paul is relying on a 15-year commercial lease agreement that he signed on June 4, 2025 on behalf of UEMB with CLC Principal Dr Ivor English on behalf of that non-formal educational institution. That agreement gives UEMB the sole responsibility for security.

“The lessee shall provide and control all necessary security measures, and the lessor shall have no authority over the entry, gates, access points, security personnel or security protocols instituted by the lessee,” states the commercial lease agreement.

Mr Paul said the CLC had given up its right to be present on the property. “They have leased their right. They have given up their rights s0 they have no rights to come back here; absolutely no right whatsoever,” he told reporters.

Mr Lewis said the CLC staff had said that since the fire, no one could enter the compound and Mr Paul had locked the gates and even those who had signed lease agreements could not go to work.

Mr Lewis questioned the legality of that agreement that Mr Paul signed with the CLC Principal to use the college building to house his UEMB.

Mr Lewis said only he, as the CLC Board Secretary, is authorised to sign agreements on behalf of the institution. “As Secretary to the Board and a member of the Board, nobody can sign any lease for Critchlow Labour College unless the Board has permitted me. I have given the instructions – nobody can negotiate anything, can sign anything on its behalf,” he said.

He called for the CLC to be returned to the college, an incorporated entity. “The issue right now is moving everybody from the complex,” Mr Lewis added.

Mr Lewis said the CLC Board had not met since he had fallen ill several months ago, but planned to do so after resolving the current issue of access. Mr Paul countered, saying that at the time of signing the lease the CLC was defunct since 2013.

The Georgetown City Council granted the CLC a lease in 1968 for 99 years with a right of renewal. Mr Lewis is challenging the legality of Mr Paul’s purported lease he inked with Mr English.

Mr Lewis said the document that Mr Paul is holding out as the basis for his legal control of the property is invalid because it does not conform to stipulations in the lease that was granted by the City Council to the College.

The provisions include that the land must be used for the CLC, all buildings and erections must be approved by the Mayor and Town Council, and that the CLC could not assign, sub-let, mortgage or otherwise encumber or part with possession without the Council’s consent which must not be unreasonably withheld.

Against that background, Mr Lewis recalled that a few years ago when Mr Paul had had an office in the CLC building and wanted to extend it, he had said to everyone, including the Principal, that only he could have signed the lease and permission must be had from the City Council. “The lease between us and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) takes a form. If we are going to lease out this place, we have to get the permission of the Council. That’s our agreement before we can do so,” Mr Lewis said.

Mr Paul acknowledged that is a provision in the ‘head lease’ but said there was sufficient precedent in which the CLC had been renting its property to other persons without seeking City Council’s proposal.

Mr Lewis said Messrs Paul and English held talks after which he was rented a section of the building which included the classroom. At that time, he said there was a “clear understanding” that the CLC and himself would have shared the classroom.

While Mr Lewis said he had expected a lease to be signed, no one returned to him. He said he was the CLC’s signatory to a previous lease with Texila American University that once occupied the college building. “I gave permission for everything with Texila,” he said.

The Paul-English signed document allows UEMB to lease the entire front building of the CLC and so give “full, exclusive and uninhibited possession, control and beneficial use” of that area which also includes the eastern wing and the entire strip or vehicular driveway immediately west of the auditorium.

The northern wing of the building that housed the offices of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) for decades, was destroyed by fire in August 2025, five months after the first blaze that badly destroyed the southern front of the building that accommodated the college auditorium, UEMB and the college offices.

Mr Lewis said after the second fire and during that period of his illness, he eventually went to the CLC and saw the gates locked.

The UEMB on January 5, 2026 had filed a High Court case seeking a declaration that its lease agreement with the CLC on June 4, 2025 is legal, valid and binds the CLC, Dr English and the Town Clerk to full performance of all the express and implied terms and covenants.

Further, UEMB had wanted a declaration that the CLC and Dr English are prevented from denying the existence of the tenancy and its ordinary incidents, notwithstanding any absence, defect, or limitation in the their estate, title, or capacity to grant a proprietary interest in the said premises. That case was withdrawn on January 13.

As late as December 22, 2025, a City Council statutory meeting recalled that, based on a full council decision, the CLC was issued a notice by the City Engineer to cease work on the building. That notice, dated December 16, 2025, gave the CLC 30 days to “cease the construction works at the location and remove all unauthorised building work” or prosecution would be done without further notice.

Back in August 2o25, the UEMB Principal had sought approval from the M&CC to undertake rehabilitation works at the CLC premises but in September, City Engineer Colvern Venture asked Mr Paul to provide a certified copy of the ownership document for the property, proof of payment of rates and taxes for 2025, a copy of the survey plan for the lot or portion of the land on which the proposed works are to be done.

Mr Paul told reporters on Thursday that the Council had no problem with the lease but the CLC had been unwilling to give the City Council a no-objection letter to pave the way for him to complete restoration works.

The CLC Secretary said the police force “did nothing” concerning reports of threatening behaviour.

A City Council statutory meeting held in late December 2025 was also informed that similar reports were made to the police force.

The UEMB Principal said relations with certain CLC officials soured after he refused offers of collaboration. “They adopted a strategy to undermine and frustrate me by sabotaging and vandalising the infrastructure, cutting off the gates and all manner of things,” he said.

Questioned about whether he suspected anyone who might be responsible for the fires, he said, “No Sir. I ain’t going to get into those petty talk about who is a suspect and so forth.”