Much has been written and said about the Red House since the President’s move to repossess the building from the Cheddi Jagan Reading and Research Centre Inc., some about what is right and some about what the law states.
However, President David Granger on Sunday at a Media Brunch hosted at State Hosue said it is neither what is the law or what is right.
“It is not a question of law, it is not a question of right. This is the mentality which is driving the battle for Kamana Court (The Red house),” he told media operatives.
Referring to statements made by the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) which suggest that any move to place materials relating to other presidents at the facility is a “contamination”, he said, “I find that offensive.”
The Head of State further implied that he will not give up until the building is being used for the promotion of all of the country’s past presidents.
He noted that “It is not as though there is no attempt to sit and reason, so that we can use State property for a public good. People are becoming vile talking about contamination so I am not going to give up State property. I am going to participate in ensuring that the children of this country could recognise for all time, all of the Presidents, starting from Arthur Chung, right down to David Granger .”
President Granger on December 29, 2016, ordered that the lease for the building known as The Red House to the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre Incorporated (CJRCI) be revoked and that the occupants vacate the property.
The decision comes more than one year after the Coalition Government had engaged the CJRCI on the matter of the lease. The engagement included negotiations for The Red House to provide a national service by housing information on all of the Presidents of Guyana. The house only contains the materials relating to former President, Cheddi Jagan who is also the founder of the Peoples’ Progressive Party. According to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, those negotiations proved futile, causing him to sought to determine the legality of the lease agreement.
Having carefully considered the advice of the Minister of Legal Affairs, President Granger has concluded that it would be in the public’s interest for the lease issued to the CJRCI to be revoked and has also directed the Minister of State that the building be assigned to house “The National Trust of Guyana, its staff, stores and equipment”, currently housed in the Valerie Rodway Building on Carmichael Street, with effect from January 1, 2017.
It is the president’s view that the National Trust will be better able to “fulfil its mandate to preserve Guyana’s national patrimony and to promote an appreciation for the nation’s heritage” in the new building.
However in response, Former Legal Affairs Minister and Opposition Member of Parliament, Anil Nandlall argued that this contention is wrong noting that, “Any person who has but a mere fleeting familiarity with the State Lands Act and the Regulations made thereunder, as well as the Land Department Act, the MMA/DA Act and similar type legislation, would know that…the legislation provide for the President to delegate such authority to the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys, the Commissioner of Forestry or the Commissioner of Geology and Mines or the Manager of the MMA/DA, as the case may be, depending on the nature of the land and the purpose for which it is to be used. The practice of delegating these responsibilities to subordinate functionaries is one that started since the tenure of President Arthur Chung, and has continued on to this day.”
Williams also said that on March 21, 2000, the CJRCI was incorporated as “a not-for-profit company” by late former President Janet Jagan, her daughter Ms. Nadira Jagan-Brancier and former President Donald Ramotar, who was then the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), with the aim of establishing a library and research facility to contain the works and documents owned by the late President Cheddi Jagan.
In that same year, the lease agreement among the parties; the Government of Guyana, The National Trust of Guyana and the CJRCI was drawn up but not executed. The Attorney General further said that on May 3, 2006 Mr. Ramotar applied to the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys (CL&S) for a lease of the property, which comprises Lots 65, 66 and 67 High Street, Kingston, Georgetown, on behalf of the CJRCI but although a file had been opened in the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), approval had not been granted. The application was then resubmitted on August 30, 2010, on a revised schedule, to the then Office of the President. On January 11, 2011, the resubmitted application was also not approved as there is no evidence of any signature of the President of the Day on the purported schedule, only those of Mr. Doorga Persaud, the then CL&S, and the Manager of Land Administration, Mr. Enrique Monize.
However, on March 30, 2012, a lease entered by the CL&S on behalf of the Government of Guyana, and by Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, S.C., on behalf of the CJRCI, was issued under Section 10 of the Lands Department Act, Chapter 59:01 for property with a duration of 99 years, commencing on January 1, 2012, at an annual rental of $12,000 for the first three years, and with the proviso that the Government could revise the annual rent payable at the end of every three years.
In the statement, the Attorney General said that the 99-year lease “was not executed in the manner of a transport, that is advertised and passed before the Court, nor was it filed as of record and annotation made against the Property by the Registrar of Deeds.” The statement further noted that in Section 4 of the State Lands Act Chapter 62:01 said that State Lands can only be converted into Government Lands with the sanction of the President of the Day and on the terms and conditions determined by this office bearer and there is no formal evidence of sanction or approval by the then President.
The Red House is established in The National Trust of Guyana Monuments Register as a Public Building/National Monument/Heritage Site.
