High schools, colleges, bridge, judicial city in Cayenne, court and new prison in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni: most of the major infrastructure promised by the State in the Guyana agreement signed in 2017 after five weeks of popular mobilization are under construction, about to be, or close to the call for tenders stage. Law enforcement has also been strengthened. On the other hand, for the sale of State land to local authorities, “the system did not work, I consider that the State did not do things well”indicates to Monde Jean-François Carenco, Minister Delegate for Overseas, visiting Guyana from December 9 to 14.
Inherited from the colonial era, state land, under the private domain, represents more than 95% of this French territory of Amazonia of eighty-three thousand square kilometers – the size of Austria, covered forests, except on the coastal strip. Five years after the Guyana agreement, of the two hundred and fifty thousand hectares promised to communities, a little over three thousand have been allocated, especially to municipalities.
To explain this delay, Mr. Carenco evokes the weight of the procedures – “the State judges the projects before giving the land”the six-month absence of regional management at the National Forestry Office (ONF), or the “somewhat politico-ideological positions of certain mayors”, one of which, for example, requested eighty-seven thousand hectares. Lawmakers are calling for more transparency. “I challenged the minister on the need for a working session with the mayors on land retrocession”pleads Michel-Ange Jérémie, mayor of Sinnamary and president of the association of mayors. “We talk about retrocession, but we see that the State keeps control”he adds.
A “new dynamic”
Thus, the requests of the municipalities are submitted for opinion to a commission made up of three departments of the State. The Minister now refers “a new dynamic” with the elected officials, the only land transfer criteria being a deliberation of the municipal council for the request, compliance with the planning documents and the balance between development and the preservation of nature.
Mayors need land for economic development or access to housing
The association of mayors claims an exemption from tax on unbuilt land, once the retrocessions have been made. “The State and the ONF are not subject to this tax, but once the retrocession has been made to the municipalities, they pay, it is not normal”, says Michel-Ange Jérémie. For major structuring projects, such as biomass power plants, the association of mayors has obtained the oral agreement of the Minister for the sale of land from the State to municipalities, to then lease them to project promoters, which will generate additional revenue for municipalities, whose tax bases are very small.
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