Business and Economic Commentary By Christopher Ram
Introduction
The recent letter to Stabroek News (SN 19th. July – Decision to have Attorney General lead the compulsory land acquisition process contradicts global best practices) raises legitimate concerns about the Attorney General leading the compulsory land acquisition process. The writer’s observations about power imbalances strike at the heart of what I have been advocating – that Guyana’s approach to compulsory land acquisition is fundamentally flawed and incompatible with constitutional principles and international best practices. I go further: the role played by the Attorney General blatantly violates the Compulsory Acquisition Act.
Let us remember that Article 142 of the Guyana Constitution guarantees “prompt payment of adequate compensation” for compulsorily acquired land. Yet the reality reveals a troubling disconnect between constitutional guarantee and the Act which dates back to 1914. The relevant provision restricts compensation to basic market value while excluding factors any reasonable person would consider relevant – including psychological trauma of forced displacement and loss of generational ties to ancestral lands. This creates what I have previously described as “a very imbalanced relationship between the Government and the citizen,” where the state wields “the coercive force of the law against the timidity of all but the well-heeled in society.”
When the Constitution promises adequacy, but the law delivers only market value minus most market factors, we have a system designed to shortchange citizens. Market value (MV) itself contradicts compulsory acquisition since MV is defined as the price agreed by a willing buyer and a willing seller. But the law is even worse. It has so many exclusions as to strip the landowner of his or her rights. In other words, not only is market value inappropriate, it is further denuded of the flawed amount offered by market value. My preference would be for a replacement value, or an expansion of section 19 to the Act which gives the Court latitude in increasing the amount of the market value. Sadly, it has not been my experience that the Government is too comfortable with this addition.
The Attorney General’s role
The AG is, by definition, the government’s chief legal advocate. The practice in all these compulsory acquisitions is that the Chief Valuation Officer and the Attorney General play lead roles. I am not in the least bit certain that the roles they play in practice are legal, let alone proper.
The Act sets out detailed procedures that the State must follow when acquiring private property compulsorily, beginning when the Minister declares a project “public work” under section 3, authorises land examination under sections 4 and 5, and receives a survey report and plan under section 6, after which the Minister may either negotiate a purchase with the landowner or compulsorily acquire the land by making a declaration under section 6 that automatically vests the property in the State one month later subject to compensation (s.7), requiring the Minister to serve notice on the proprietor (s.8) and file certified copies in the Deeds Registry (s.9), before the Attorney General must apply to the Court under section 13 for compensation assessment, with the Court directing valuation and determination of appropriate compensation under sections 13-16. It is unclear whether these steps are followed and what non-compliance means to property owners.
Mr. Barrington, as Chief Valuation Officer, has held no statutory authority under the Act since the post-1990 period, and his valuation disclosed a single inapplicable comparator, raising serious concerns about the soundness of the evidence he would have tendered within the land acquisition process on behalf of the state.
The practice is different
The AG plays a lead role in meeting with and negotiating with landowners, ably supported by the Chief Valuation Officer who is promoted as an authority. This is not only wrong. It is unfair. Asking affected landowners to negotiate with the person whose job is to advance the government’s legal interests creates an inherent conflict that no amount of good intentions can resolve. International best practice emphasises independent facilitation precisely to avoid such conflicts. When communities feel they are negotiating with an adversary rather than participating in a fair process, the entire legitimacy of the project comes under threat.
No wonder then the several reports of property owners being presented with offers significantly below reasonable market rates, with little opportunity for meaningful appeal. The psychological pressure created by the government’s legal authority creates a system where “consultation” becomes a euphemism, at best for managed consent extraction, and at worst, being knowingly swindled by the State.
The deafening political silence
At the national, collective level, the most troubling feature is the complete absence of political discourse, let alone leadership on this issue. Despite the unprecedented spate of compulsory acquisitions that has accompanied Guyana’s oil trajectory – from gas-to-shore infrastructure to new highways and energy projects – not a single political party or prominent politician has paid meaningful attention to how citizens have been systematically cheated of their property.
The PPP government implements these unfair acquisitions. The PNC opposition remains silent about the constitutional violations. Third parties focus on trivia. The result is that ordinary Guyanese facing compulsory acquisition find themselves entirely alone, confronting the full power of the state with antiquated legal protections designed to favour colonial authorities.
The only and limited improvement to the 110 years old Act came in 1990 when then President Desmond Hoyte introduced a new version of section 19 which empowered the Courts to use its discretion to enhance the so-called “market value” to give the property owner “prompt payment of adequate compensation”.
The political dimension
And now, as we approach another election cycle, these same political parties that have ignored citizens’ property rights want our votes. They will speak eloquently about development and progress, but not about the families whose sacrifice made that development possible. Political parties that think they can systematically violate property rights and then count on electoral amnesia are making a dangerous miscalculation.
One of the tragedies of Guyana is that as voters do not react to having suffered from property under-valuations. Our voters can divorce their personal challenges from their political choices.
The way forward
Meaningful reform requires compensation that reflects the constitutional standard of adequacy, including a compulsory acquisition premium – no less than 25% above market value—to account for the forced nature of the transaction. The process must be genuinely independent, removing the Attorney General from stakeholder engagement and replacing government-dominated valuation with independent assessment panels.
The letter writer’s call for independent, participatory consultation processes reflects democratic wisdom. Our constitution promises adequate compensation for compulsory acquisition.