Mayor of the City of Georgetown, Alfred Mentore has set a one-week ultimatum for the Government to respond to the Council’s concerns over the usage of the land at Carifesta Avenue that has been earmarked for a US$300M Qatari Hotel.

At a meeting of the Council on Monday, Mayor Mentore said the dispute over the ownership and usage of the land remains unresolved although the Council had penned a letter to President Irfaan Ali almost a year ago.

The land was a gift to the City of Georgetown from former slave plantation owners in 1887.

Mayor Mentore said if the Government does not respond favorably to its concerns within a week, the Municipality will initiate legal action in keeping with a majority decision taken by the Council in February 2024.

“We may have to seek legal attention. We may need to seek legal review and attention on this matter,” he told the 30-member Council.

According to the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission, the land, located at Lots 1 and 2 of Plantation Thomaslands, has been the property of the State since 1966, but the Council maintains the land belongs to the City.

Last February, Mayor Mentore presented the 30-member Council with a copy of a transport issued to the Municipality, which was in the possession of the National Archive.

On Monday, he made it clear that the Municipality is not against development, but said the Council has the right to defend its property.

He said there are systems to follow even in the execution of development projects.

“We are not anti-development or anti-nothing. We want our fair share, we want to be treated as a proper stakeholder in these matters, and that real consideration should be given as to how we move that process forward,” the City Mayor said.

The Mayor is expected to provide the Council with a report on the next steps when it meets again.

The Government, while maintaining that the land belongs to the State, has said that the hotel will add to the country’s tourism product.

It is expected to include 260 rooms and 150 apartments along with conference and other facilities. The land earmarked for the hotel project was used by the National Insurance Scheme and the Guyana National Service as recreational grounds for several years.

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