Govt grants more lands

Enill said between five to eight applications were approved and the process used would have been the same as the one Cabinet followed in 2006 when it granted land to persons currently building a church at the Heights of Guanapo. Enill did not name who made the application on behalf of the church, nor did he disclose details of the approvals which Cabinet granted yesterday. He emphasised however that there was a set procedure for reviewing all applications.

“The thing is very clearly set out in the law in how Government assets are going to be dealt with and it has to be followed. If it is not followed then the Cabinet is going to be in breach of its responsibilities,” Enill told the post-Cabinet news conference, Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s yesterday.

He added that not all applications are approved by Cabinet.

“All the applications that come to Cabinet go through the established process (through the Agriculture Ministry) but the Cabinet has the final decision because the Cabinet may decide that it does not wish to approve this for whatever reason,” Enill explained.

The Guanapo lands for the church were approved in 2006 although a cornerstone on the site suggested works may have begun there on December 30, 2005. “Cabinet is not normally interested in cornerstones or those kinds of activities.” Enill also said there was nothing which prohibited the private applicant from hiring the Shanghai Construction Group to build the church. Although Shanghai entered this country under a government-to-government arrangement with China, Enill said private entities were free to hire Shanghai if they could afford to pay for the Chinese company.