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Feb 21, 2013 News
The piece of land in Moruca from which a single parent was evicted has been transferred to the Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai, according to a document seen by Kaieteur News.
Sukhai had sought to distance herself from the land grabbing row at Santa Rosa, Moruca in the North West District, but an agreement shows that she accepted the land rights for the disputed land. The dispute surrounds a piece of land, with a house, which Sukhai’s stepfather, Leonard Torres, was claiming.
The house was occupied by one Melanie Torres at the time the dispute arose; the lady has since been evicted.
Now, the Torreses are planning to challenge the claim of transfer to Sukhai and are seeking a piece of the land for the young lady to build a house.
They hope for an impartial hearing of the case since there is a new Toshao in the village. A public meeting is planned for early next month at which the Torreses plan to let their case be heard.
In a document seen by Kaieteur News, Sukhai signed and accepted the land as a “gift” on February 17th, 2012, from her stepfather Leonard Torres. The land measures a quarter of an acre. Strange enough, the witnesses to the transfer agreement signed with a date almost two years earlier than the date the agreement was made.
The transfer agreement bears the stamp of the Santa Rosa Village Council with a date of February 16, 2012.
On September 16, 2005, the Santa Rosa Village Council granted Melanie Torres permission to have a plot of land at San Jose, Santa Rosa, to build her home. It is the same place, the Village Council noted, where the woman was living for 24 years.
The woman had left the area for a short time, and returned, only to be told that she can no longer live there.
The Village Council held a meeting on January 11, 2012, and Minister Sukhai had asked Ms. Yvonne Pearson, the then Chairperson of the National Toshaos Council (NTC), to intervene on her behalf since, as Minister of Amerindian Affairs, she could not represent the interest of her father because of the conflict of interest issues that could arise.
At that meeting, it was decided that the house and land legally belonged to Leonard Torres, and that there was no record to show that the land was transferred to anyone, previously. This is despite the fact that Melanie Torres has a signed letter by the Village Council showing that she was given permission in 2005 to build a house on the land on which she was living for 24 years previously.
There were concerns from the Amerindian People’s Association that the Minister used her powers to intervene in a matter in which she is involved, displaying glaring conflict of interest.
The APA claimed that the Minister used her powers, by asking the NTC to intervene, so the case could go in her favour.
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