With over 32,000 backlogged land applications, the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) is moving towards digitizing its records with the hope that this would accelerate the process of acquiring lands and ease squatting.

Commissioner of the GLSC Trevor Benn made this announcement yesterday at the organization’s end-of-year press engagement as he highlighted some of the challenges faced this year. Labeled as “chief” among the challenges, Benn said that squatting is often encouraged by the local authorities who are “known for giving them [citizens] approval to squat on embankments, to squat on reserves, to squat on government lands set aside for whatever purpose…” .

“…So we are trying to push back a little on that at the moment. You may have seen in the newspapers a number of ads about squatting and in 2018 we will try to work a little harder to enforce that,” Benn said…..