Massive increase in allocation of titles, developing computer database CEO describes some dramatic i
Three years after it was established the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission is quietly but effectively increasing its contribution to the economic development of the country and promoting social cohesion among Guyanese.
Nestled in one of the most pleasant compounds in the city, the commission is also on track to becoming financially sustainable within another two years.
Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Andrew Bishop in an exclusive interview with Current Affairs says that it has been able to do all this without any downsizing and by the introduction of measures that have accelerated the title-issuing process.
It has also increased the emoluments of its staff and regularly reviews its salary scales against those for equivalent jobs in other agencies, and this has contributed to its being able to maintain its staff complement.
More land allocation
New title-holders showing off their titles after a presentation ceremony hosted by Ministry of Housing.
Explaining how the commission has been increasing its national development contribution, Bishop pointed out that poor countries like Guyana are rich in land capital but poor in hard capital. By giving persons security of title, Bishop said the commission is thus making more land available for productive use as the titles are being used to access hard capital.
He pointed out that with more land being put to productive use, there is a resultant increase in the Gross Domestic Product. Also he said that the commission makes indirectly a balance of payments contribution since among the land being made available for production would be that used for export production.
Bishop said too that the commission is making a contribution to social cohesion by giving people a stake in the country as people still place a lot of pride and satisfaction in owning a piece of land. "People feel comfortable knowing that when they die they can pass on to their children a piece of land," Bishop said.
The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission came into being three years ago and has been, in addition to its traditional responsibilities for surveys and lease administration, now responsible for developing land use policy and developing planning and land information systems, as a result of the information that brought it into being.
Four divisions
The commission has four divisions - surveys, land administration, land information and mapping and corporate affairs which includes finance, human resources and administration. Bishop said that managers who are academically and/or professionally qualified and are experienced in their field head the various divisions, save for the land administration division which is headed by a professional of considerable experience but not academically qualified in land administration which he said is not offered as a single academic discipline.
Bishop said that the reorganisation of the commission which before 2001 had been a department of the Ministry of Agriculture has dramatically increased title delivery from hundreds a year to thousands, which represents a tenfold increase in delivery. He pointed out that a few days after the interview he was to sign about 400 titles which in the past would have been the sum total of a year's work.
Bishop explained that with the assistance of the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) the commission has put in place a faster and more efficient processing system for processing applications, which is clearer and more transparent. Also, he said that the work of the Land Administration Department has been organised to allow its officers to become specialised in one aspect of the process. The result is that the file moves from one section to the other in the department much faster.
Another innovation which has increased the efficiency of the department is the development of a land registration programme which involves personnel going into the field to regularise those persons who are on the land but whose presence is not documented. This, he said, is an ongoing exercise that has resulted in greater titling.
Computerisation
Another innovation is the computerisation of the commission's work which has allowed it to develop a land database showing the location and acreage of every piece of land as well as allows it to identify land not yet leased and available for investment.
Bishop said the development of the land registry has allowed it to develop a better working relationship with the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-INVEST)as it can now provide it with advice on land which is available for particular types of investment.
Commenting on its linkage to the Ministry of Housing which is responsible for the distribution of house lots, Bishop explained that the commission is the agency through which land is made available to the ministry. Also, he said that he as Commissioner of Lands and Surveys signs all transports for house lots on government-owned land.
He said where applications are made for a change in land use, those applications are normally referred to the Central Planning and Housing Authority for its comments before the commission makes its decision.
Also, he said the commission is part of the Ministry of Housing's land and house lot distribution as it uses information from its land registry.
Land policy
With respect to the commission's mandate for developing land policy, Bishop said that it does this through interaction with a number of agencies such as the Ministry of Finance, the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Environmental Proction Agency all of whose programmes and policies impact on its work, since a lot of parallel work is being done by several of them.
He pointed out too that in the development of a particular land use policy the commission consults with the relevant interest groups, such as the Rice Producers' Association, Guysuco, cattle farmers, the Private Cane farmers' Association as well as other non-governmental producers organisations, if the policy being developed is for agricultural land use. He stressed that the commission puts a high premium on stakeholder consultations in its draft policy papers to get a sense of the latest feelings on them.
Bishop said that the commission was now in the process of completing its land use policy for Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) and this involves scientific analysis of the data as well as community meetings to obtain the views of their residents.
He said that the commission is embarking on the drafting of a policy for Region 9 (Upper Essequibo/Upper Takatu) and added that the proposed road between Guyana and Brazil will impact on the region and the policy would need to ensure that the impact is beneficial.
Bishop said that the commission's plan is to complete a policy for a region every year and to begin updating them from the eleventh year. He said that one immediate benefit from the exercise is that the commission is able to identify the potential of land not beg used and what can be done on it.
Reviewing rental charges
In relation to the commission becoming self-sufficient, Bishop said that it has been reviewing the fees so as to make them more realistic. He explained that the rent for a residential lot which in the past was just $15 is now $3000 a year and that the rental fees for other lands had been between $7.59 -$15.00 an acre and even at that price people were not paying their rents. This was partly because the transportation cost to travel to the commission when it was a department of the Agriculture Ministry was considerably more than the rental owed.
Bishop said that the commission has regional offices in nine of the ten administrative regions and is in the process of planning to open an office in Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni).
He said that the commission's 170-staff complement is divided almost equally between its headquarters and regional offices and that each of its field offices is equipped with a motorised transportation to allow its officers to move around the area they service.
A new development, he said, is that all the offices are computerised and staffed with finance and inspection officers. He said that this now allows for applicants to apply for leases through these offices without having to travel to Georgetown, which is what they did in the past when the process was more centralised and the offices not fully staffed and equipped.