The Land Administration division is made of three sections namely Application Processing and Lease Preparation, Land Management Information and Regional Land Administration. The Division is managed by Mr. Michael Hutson (See Orgonogam for more details) and the following are its objectives.

  • to have charge of and acts as guardian over all public lands, rivers and creeks of Guyana;
  • to receive and evaluate offers to purchase or let public lands and to issue , for and on behalf of the President, grant, leases and permits to occupy such lands, in accordance with any land regulating the administration and disposition of public lands;
  • to set, monitor and enforce the terms and conditions subject to which public land is sold or let;
  • to make and maintain such records concerning public lands as are required by law;
  • to establish and maintain liaison between all the agencies involved in the registration and storage of records relating to public land in any tenure including the registration of deeds and title to land;

Land Management Information Section (LIMS)

Previously known simply as the ‘Registry’, this section in the Land Administration Division was reengineered in the early years of the Commission’s life to have the technological, procedural and human resources necessary to support the Commission in its drive to manage its manual and digital records as it pertained to the Land Administration. Since June 2001, the LMIS has undergone structural enhancements to provide effectiveness and efficiencies in administering State and Government Land.

The essential functions of the LMIS are:

  1. To ensure proper storage, convenient access, effective retrieval, accurate updating and parcel based cataloging / filing / indexing of the manual files and records of the Division.
  2. To support in the updating of hardcopy plans and stock sheets with filed and numbered applications.
  3. To develop, maintain and manage the Division’s Land Title Database. This database which is a core dataset of GLSC, currently includes records that describe applications and claims, land titles (leases, grants, permissions and even certificate of titles), land parcels and persons (applicants and title holders). Additionally, the database tracks the position and status of an application or claim in process.
  4. To ensure the efficient and quality preparation of all approved titles and documentation related to the processing of applications and claims.
  5. To compile and provide reports and information on the various performance indicators of the Land Administration Division, and analysis based on the Land Title Database.
  6. To lead the strategic direction and implementation of the Division’s increasing use of IT and Information Systems as a tool for land administration as well as to support the Commission’s overall IT Development strategy.

This Section is currently supervised by Ms. Carmen Waithe, Information Liaison Officer and Ms. Salima Dos Santos, Database Analyst.

Application Processing and Lease Preparation

Basically, this section works is aligned directly to activities of the Regional Offices and also performs an important task as it relates to the quality of the work done by the Land Administration Division.

The essential function of this section is as follow:

  1. Ensure that all applications filed confirm with the minimum requirements outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures for Land Administration.
  2. Check application made for the rental of state land to ascertain whether there is a need for stakeholder(s) consultation or consultation with other state/sector agencies.
  3. Prepare a list of the applications/files that can be placed on schedule to submit to the Office of the President.
  4. Prepare Summary of the important information on Development Proposal submitted along with application/file for the rental of state lands that is over 40 acres.
  5. Prepares extracts of technical data and information to be inserted in Lease.
  6. Check draft Leases to ensure that it is being prepared correctly in keeping with standards and laws.
  7. Numbering and Registering of Leases.
  8. Arrangement of Leases for Signatures.
  9. Liaise with Regional Offices to uplift Leases and to pass on any vital information or to answer any queries in relation to application made.
  10. Notations of issued Leases on Plans.

Conveyance Section

This section of the Land Administration Division focuses on conversion of residential leasehold lands to freehold title in areas identified and approved by GoG. Depending on the area, the type of freehold instrument issued can be either a Transport or Certificate of Title. Areas currently being processed are in Regions 2, 3, 4 and 6.

This section is headed by Mr. Grenville Williams, Land Administration Officer III.