State transfers Coldingen plot to Central Housing and Planning Authority

The Central Housing and Planning Authority has acquired absolute title to a 2.577-acre plot at Plantation Coldingen, in the Buxton/Foulis Local Government District on the East Coast of Demerara. The transfer is effected by Order No. 191 of 2026, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (Transfer of Property) Order 2026, published in the Official Gazette of Guyana of Saturday 31 October 2026. Title passes from the state holding company to the housing authority free and clear of all claims and liabilities.

The order was made on 2 October 2026 by Hon. Ashni K. Singh, Member of Parliament and Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 8 and 11 of the Public Corporations Act (Cap. 19:05). The instrument appears in Legal Supplement B of Gazette No. 418/2026 at pages 1099 to 1101, alongside a separate amendment order affecting other NICIL property.

The two parties named in the instrument

The order defines both bodies corporate involved, fixing their legal identity and addresses of record:

• CHPA: the Central Housing and Planning Authority, a body corporate established under the Housing Act (Cap. 36:20), with its office at Lot 41 Brickdam and United Nations Place, Georgetown.
• NICIL: National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Act (Cap. 89:01), with its registered office at Lot 199 Camp Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown.
• The “Property” is defined as the immovable property described in the Schedule, “being property belonging to NICIL”.
• The “Appointed Day” is fixed as the date on which the order comes into operation.

What the order does

Section 3 provides that the title to the property shall, as from the appointed day, “stand transferred to and vested in CHPA absolutely, free and clear from all claims and liabilities”. Section 4 adds an evidentiary rule: from that day, a certified copy of the order is deemed conclusive evidence that CHPA holds absolute title, so that any lease, licence, transfer, assignment or agreement granted in furtherance of the order is itself conclusive evidence that the person named is seized of, or entitled to, the land for the estate or interest specified.

The vesting is therefore unconditional in its terms. No purchase price, consideration, condition or reservation is set out in the order; the gazette text records only the transfer of title and the evidential effect of the instrument.

The land in the schedule

The Schedule, headed “Immovable Property transferred to CHPA identified”, contains a single entry with the following particulars:

• Plot lettered “AA”, being a portion of Plantation Coldingen.
• Located in the Buxton/Foulis Local Government District, East Coast of Demerara, County of Demerara, Republic of Guyana.
• Area: 2.577 (two decimal five seven seven) acres.
• Shown on a plan by Shabeer Ali, Sworn Land Surveyor, dated 12 June 2026.
• Recorded at the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission on 17 June 2026 as Plan No. 95698.

A companion order on other NICIL land

The same Legal Supplement carries Order No. 192 of 2026, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (Transfer of Property) (Amendment) Order 2026, also signed by Dr. Ashni K. Singh. It amends the Schedule to the principal order — Order No. 1 of 2024 — by substituting the description given for the property listed as “Firstly” in the table. The replacement entry covers Tracts numbered “1”, “2” and “3”, all portions of Plantation Perseverance on the East Bank of Demerara, measuring 46.2156 acres, 13.4518 acres and 35.0046 acres respectively, as shown on a plan by S.T. Mayers, Sworn Land Surveyor, dated 30 July 2025 and recorded at the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission on 6 March 2026 as Plan No. 94398.

The Coldingen vesting gives the housing authority clean, unencumbered title recorded against a surveyed plan, the prerequisite for the authority to allocate, lease or convey the land for residential development. For households on the East Coast Demerara waiting on state housing allocations, the practical effect is that a specific parcel in the Buxton/Foulis district now sits on the CHPA’s books as absolute property rather than as an asset of the state investment company.

Source: Official Gazette of Guyana, No. 418/2026, 31 October 2026, Legal Supplement B, pp. 1099-1101 (official reference: Order No. 191 of 2026).