Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo this afternoon tore into African Rights Activist and Executive of the African Cultural Development Association Eric Phillips.

At his weekly press conference, Mr. Jagdeo, who has fired off at Phillips over his lease of state lands, stated that he has been doing more for the Afro-Guyanese community than Phillips ever will.

Phillips who also works with the State Assets Recovery Agency and is an economist, has accused the Opposition Leader of attacking prominent Afro Guyanese over their ownership of land leases, many of which were approved under Jagdeo’s government but were only granted under the current government.

Phillips has stated that his lease of state lands followed the law and he paid all of the required fees. He said Jagdeo appears to be attacking him because of him being involved in the investigation of several persons linked to the former Government.

But today, Mr. Jagdeo said Phillips should have been focusing more on doing more for the Afro Guyanese community.

“What fight does Eric Phillips carry for Afro-Guyanese? Just public statements? I have gone to more Afro Guyanese communities and met more ordinary Afro-Guyanese and helped more Afro-Guyanese than Eric Phillips ever will in his whole life. If you send him on the ground, people hardly know who he is”, Jagdeo declared.

The Opposition Leader has denied that his decision to highlight some of the land leases by the Lands and Surveys Commission was based on race.

He has been accused of using the race card since all of the persons he highlighted are Afro-Guyanese who he believes are connected to the Government, while the Lands and Surveys Commission has stated that it has issued over 1500 leases in the past few years.

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