Declaration of Sophia

Chapter 5 The Social Use of Land

5.1 In 1973, in pursuance of a programme launched years before, the Party, through the Government resumed, on behalf of the people, possession of several thousand acres throughout Guyana "owned" by the Sugar Estates, left idle and proposed for speculation. Some of these lands have been earmarked for or turned into Housing Estates for the people, and some - thousands of acres - have also been put under agriculture, notably rice, by co-operative groups. This has directly contributed to two objectives of our socialist oriented programme - feeding and housing the nation by 1976.

5.2 It is important to note that the party's programme of feeding, clothing and housing the nation is a pre-eminently socialist programme, because if each of those objectives were to be attained it would mean that there will be a direct service to the people and our economy will have been operated primarily to benefit people.

5.3 Meanwhile, in at least three cases we have taken possession of housing land, formerly rented for several years by estate owners to tenants, and we have transferred this land to housing co-operatives.

Unproductive Land

5.4 Today, there are still several estate owners who are not productively occupying their private lands. Others, including some of these, hold State leases for lands which are similarly neglected. Still others, including some of both the former categories, hold licences 'During the President's Pleasure' for which they pay two stivers or 3.2 cents per annum per acre. The land involved, they either lease in a state of abandonment, or under-utilisation or sublet all or part to tenants at several dollars per acre, thus profiteering on the nation's property

5.5 These practices will and must be brought to an end shortly. In fairness it may be stated that one licensee has had the good sense to concede voluntarily Government's right on behalf of an agricultural rice co-operative to resume land which was held under such a licence on the East Coast of Demerara. But he is exceptional. Therefore, statutory measures will have to be taken to have these large, very large, areas of land allocated to co-operative farmers.

5.6 Further, we cannot in the context of socialist convictions and of the national goal of feeding, clothing and housing the nation, permit land held under government leases (which are somewhat different from licences 'During the President's Pleasure') and even under freehold to be unproductively owned or possessed and/or used as a means of exploiting tenant farmers under a system of reminiscent of feudal serfdom. We believe that land should go to the tiller.

5.7 This subject I discussed in 1971 with the then Leader of the Opposition and failed to get his support for legislative action. Since, in some instances, action would have involved a Constitutional amendment to be passed by two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly, his refusal to support ensured a continuation of this objectionable situation.

5.8 Now, however, the P.N.C holds over two-thirds of the seats in Parliament and we can and will proceed with the implementation of our policy uninhibited and untrammelled by the bourgeois P.P.P.

Constitutional Reform

5.9 You will remember that on at least three occasions recently we have been faced with the need to amend the Constitution, in pursuit of our declared programme and policy, which have gained the support of the overwhelming majority of Guyanese, including some who are opposed to the P.N.C. These occasions arose when we sought to nationalise Demba, when we abolished the Privy Council as the Nation's Final Court of Appeal and when we reduced the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. We still have to deal with the social use of land and other property and the introduction of the Agency Shop.

5.10 Earlier today I spoke of the "typical Independence Constitution with all its inhibitions and checks and balances" which we had to accept as part of the package in 1966. Certainly it is clear that this patchwork of amendments from time to time is both unsatisfactory, untidy, and un-aesthetic, and that the moment has arrived for a review and rewriting of the Guyana Constitution. The drafting and subsequent promulgation of a new Constitution will, therefore, be undertaken shortly, that is from January 1975. This is a project in which the Party, the Public and finally the Parliament will be fully and openly involved.

5.11 As we complete our tenth year in office, and proceed to the country's tenth anniversary of independence, we cannot do so with a Constitution out of step with modern trends, and our own ideas and ideologies; a Constitution which reflects for the most part the beliefs and ideology of our former imperialist masters; a Constitution which was taken out of the drawer, so to speak, as were several others for various ex-British colonies; with the minimum relevancy to the Guyanese peoples' needs, aspirations and thrusts. The Constitution must go and in its place a new and relevant Constitution must be substituted.

5.12 But back to the question of land ownership and occupation. It is clear that in too many cases privately owned land which can and should be put under cultivation as part of the national effort is not under the plough or is used for exploitation. We must produce more for the use of our population, and old concepts have to be swept aside in the wake of the socialist revolution. Earlier next year, legislation will be presented to limit large holdings and specify the maximum holdings permitted to private individuals or companies. The main criteria will be capacity to use productively and the end of landlordism.