By Svetlana Marshall

Director of the Critchlow Labour College, Lincoln Lewis threatened to bulldoze the fence of the College building in Woolford Avenue this morning to gain access to the premises, which he said has been seized by Dr Stanley Paul of the University of Excellence and Business Administration. Paul rented a section of the building and following two recent fires, he has reportedly laid ownership to the entire property.

Contending that Dr Paul has no authority to seize control of the property, Mr. Lewis showed up at the Woolford Avenue location with an excavator, threatening to break down the fence. But Dr. Paul warned the machine operator that he was prepared to defend the property, resulting in the operator backing off.

According to Dr Paul, the Critchlow Labour College relinquished its right to the property.

He told reporters that he entered a 30-year commercial lease agreement with the Critchlow Labour College on June 11, 2025.

The agreement was reportedly signed by the Principal of the Critchlow Labour College Ivor English and witnessed by President of the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC), Norris Witter, three months after fire ripped through sections of the property.

A second fire last July flattened other buildings in the compound with the exception of the building occupied by Dr. Paul and his private University.

According to the lease agreement, the entire front building of the Critchlow Labour College, including the sections destroyed by fire, was leased to the UEMB at a monthly rent of $1 Million. An advanced rent payment of $4 Million also formed part of the agreement.

“The fact of the matter is that I have been renting here since 2016. They had two fires, the last fire, they took about five months to mobilize resources to clean up the place and they were unsuccessful. So, they invited me to do a lease, so based on my wealth of experience in business, I wouldn’t get involved in a lease unless I am absolutely and totally secured because getting involved in the lease would require me to invest a substantial amount of money, millions and millions of dollars, the likes of which you would be able to recoup in any short time. So, we do up the lease and invite the lawyers,” Dr Paul said.

He said once the agreement was signed and the advanced payment made in rental, he began construction on the building. He claims that when construction of the building was far advanced, the Critchlow Labour College officials then sought to collaborate with him, but he opposed.

“First thing they start with was trying to ask me to collaborate, they want to collaborate and cooperate. Now, I have extensive dealings with these people that tells me the last thing you need to do is have any sort of relationship with Critchlow outside of just leasing the place from them. And more than that, why would you want to cooperate with those people? What are they bringing to the table? I can’t cooperate with somebody on the basis of something that I have already acquired by way of the lease. So, I reject the cooperation, and then they adopt a strategy of undermine and frustrate me,” he said.

Dr. Paul said because the agreement gives him full control over the premises, he wants the Critchlow Labour College nowhere close to it.

“The lease itself explicitly states that I am in charge of all the gates, all the entrances, full authority, absolute authority, Critchlow has no authority to come in this place,” he said.

But Critchlow Labour College Director, Lincoln Lewis told reporters that the land at Woolford Avenue was leased to the College by the City of Georgetown, and there could be no subletting without the approval of the City Council.

According to Lewis, while the Business School rented sections of the building, there was no agreement leasing the property to the businessman.

“If we are going to lease out this place, we have to get the permission of the council that’s our agreement. We have not done that but he had an office inside there, and he had wanted to extend the office, and I said very clear to them, nobody could sign the lease except me, the secretary of the board,” Lewis said.

According to him, he had no part to play in the agreement reached between Mr. English and Dr Paul, noting that during that period he was ill. He said long after the second fire occurred, he returned to the premises only to find the gates locked. He said since then he has been unable to gain access to the property.

As Director and Secretary of Critchlow Labour College, Lewis intends to take the matter to the Court, maintaining that the agreement is null and void.

“What I am saying to you, as secretary of the board and member of the board, nobody can sign no lease for Critchlow Labour College unless the Board has permitted me, I have given the instructions. Nobody can negotiate anything, can sign anything and I never gave such instructions,” Lewis said.

In December, 2025, the Georgetown Mayor and City Council issued the Critchlow Labour College with a cease and desist order after Dr Paul proceeded to build on the property without permission.

City Mayor Alfred Mentor told News Source that the purported transaction is null and void, since the Critchlow Labour College cannot unilaterally lease the property without the Council’s approval.

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