A prominent lawyer and human rights activist has accused the Ralph Gonsalves government of tricking citizens into paying for lands that they own legally through adverse possession.
Kay Bacchus-Browne levelled the accusation at a rally of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) in Murray’s Village at the weekend.
Speaking at the event, Bacchus-Browne said she had a copy of one of several distributed by the government to people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in which the government says it is giving lands to the people at a low price — 50 cents a square foot, in some instances.
She said the letter that came from Lands & Surveys Department says that Cabinet, on Feb. 11, 2015, advised approval for the sale of one parcel of land to the recipient, includes the measurement of the land, and quotes a total cost.
The communiqué asks the recipient to pay a purchase tax of 5 per cent and further said they will be required to enter into a purchase agreement with the Lands and Surveys Department.
The payment of consideration for the land shall be that the recipient of the letter pays for the land in full, in one instalment, within a year.
Alternatively, they can pay by instalments, providing that not less than one-third of the full cost of the purchase is paid within 12 months and then the balance is paid in four equal instalments.
Interest will be charged on the outstanding balance, the letter said.
The land shall be utilised principally for residential purposes and payment shall be made to the Lands & Surveys Department, the Ministry of Housing, Informal Human Settlement, Lands & Surveys and Physical Planning.
Failure to comply with any of these conditions shall result in the immediate termination of the purchase agreement, the letter says, adding that in the event of the termination of the purchase agreement, the full cost of the purchase, which is already paid, will be refunded.
Bacchus-Browne further told the NDP rally that the letter was followed by an agreement, made on March 5, 2015, between the purchaser and Governor General, acting on behalf of the Government and the Chief Surveyor.
“Now, having said all of this, I want to take you to an act in St. Vincent that is called the Limitation Act,” she said.
Bacchus-Browne quoted Section 17 of that Act as saying that anyone who had been living on land for 12 years, without the permission of the owner and regards the lands as their own, can apply for possession of the land.
It further says the title of the owner is extinguished, she pointed out.
The lawyer, however, noted another piece of legislation called the Possessory Titles Act, which allows persons to go to court and get a deed for the land.
“Now, that Section has an interesting part to it. Section 17 (6). Section 17 (6) says Part 2 of the schedule contain provisions modifying provisions of this section in their application to actions brought by a person claiming through the Crown.
“Let’s get to Crown lands. This same act says that anybody who is living on Crown lands for 30 years continuously in adverse possession and the government does nothing to reclaim it, the title is extinguished.
“So we get back to these letters. My information is that there are a number of persons who got these letters where the title for the government is already extinguished.
“What sort of trickery is this? What sort of professional is Ralph Gonsalves? What professional is his son, Camillo and many of the others on the platform?”
Both Gonsalves and his son, Camillo, are lawyers.
“Are you telling me that Ralph Gonsalves don’t know the law? Is it a mistake? So here you have a government telling you land that you own by law, you can’t use it except for residential purposes and you must pay them, and if you don’t you must pay interest.
“I do not think this is right and that’s why I thought I should come here tonight and say this clearly to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines — don’t be fooled by this charade. That’s not Labour love. That’s not how you love people. You don’t trick them into taking their hard-earned money to pay for lands that they own.
“And, according to the Possessory Titles Act, you can come to court even for Crown lands and do the necessary application and own that land, get a deed, which you can take to the bank.
“So, I want all of you who are listening to tell your friends, your neighbours and those in radio-land who got these letters, once you on the land for 30 years — and it does not have to be you, it can be for your ancestors — once your family owns the land continuously, use it as your own land, they cannot take it from you. They cannot force you to pay that money. Wake up St. Vincent. Don’t be tricked by lawyers who should know better,” Bacchus-Browne said.
“All those persons who have signed this agreement already, it is void and of non-effect. And so, wha’ we should do wid dem?” she said as the crowd responded: “Geh rid ah dem”.
“Geh rid ah dem. Deh doh love you!” Bacchus-Browne said of the ULP administration, which has distributed thousands of similar parcels of land since coming to office in 2001.
The government is expected to distribute a further 200 lots before Christmas.
Crooks, crooks, crooks all around this ULP Administration. Everywhere you look, a crook.
At the Agriculture Dept, a crook
At Building & Loan, crooks
At NCB, too many crooks to count
At NIS, crooks
At National Properties.
At BRAGSA, crooks
At the Lottery, crooks
At the Registry On and on and on.
At Government Ministries, may crooks, great and small.
The beat goes on until collectively,we do something about it.
I’m not a lawyer but I believe Bacchus-Browne may be wrong because most of these plots of Crown land were in densely populated areas whose roads, gutters, and drains were maintained by the State/Crown which also supplied or maintained water lines and supplied electricity and put meters for both on the property. Many or most occupants were also paying house tax.
In short, the occupants of the plots were not in unmolested or unsupervised or unregulated or unknown possession of “their” holdings, thus making them ineligible to claim either squatter or adverse possessory ownership.
Some lawyer out there should correct me if I am wrong.
It doesn’t surprise me one iota. This ULP government thrives on the disgusting, robbing the land owners at Argyle, failing to pay their NIS bill, robbing the Kingstown traders, staggering from one crisis to another whilst distributing thousands of lies along the way, Burning passports and destroying the evidence. It never stops.
She is mad because she’s not making a dime from this procedure. If these said people contact you to settle there claim would you charge them the amount the government is charging.I know for a fact that your price won’t be less than one thousand dollars so who will be fooling who.
Paying property tax if payment was paid in their own name compounds evidence towards ownership.
If the Land Tax was paid in the name of the government then it is evidence that the government are the owners.
As for roads that does not alter in anyway the ownership of the land.
Electricity bills and water bills if they are not get paid by the government compounds the occupiers entitlement. It also aids the occupier if those bills are in their own names.
If the government enters the land on a regular basis to maintain the land that is a different matter but if the occupier maintains the land and has enjoyed quiet and undisturbed occupation without any government demands or objections for those thirty years or more, then the government are knowingly in the wrong asking them to pay.
If the occupier also fenced the land and marked the boundaries that also helps establish exclusive use by the occupier.
The demand for payment by the government may well be labeled fraud and deception.