Benn’s arrest is “victimization & attempt to demoralize public servants”- Family

Two brothers of the former head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn are accusing the Government of engaging in witch-hunting and victimization.

During a visit to the Brickdam Police Station on Thursday where he is being held, Trevor’s younger brother Shawn Benn told reporters that “the family is very much disturbed.”

“Our brother served the State of Guyana. He is a Guyanese and he gave service to nation-building. [This is] witch-hunting and victimization and an attempt to demoralize public servants. We are very much upset and this cannot auger well for Guyana,” he added.

Shawn noted that no Guyanese should feel comfortable with what is unfolding.

“Today is our day and tomorrow might be someone else’s so, therefore, this is a call to action that this cannot be business as usual anymore,” he said.

The former GL&SC boss was arrested on Wednesday for reportedly leasing six acres of land at Ogle, East Coast of Demerara (ECD) in May 2017 to JANICO Industrial Engineering Limited for $27M.

The contention is that the land at the time belonged to the National Commercial Industrial Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). Trevor’s elder brother Collin Benn in an invited comment to the media pledged to fight for his brother’s rights.

“The $27M that they collect did not went into Trevor Benn’s pocket, it went into Lands and Surveys [Commission] coffers so there is no way that Mr. Benn commit a crime,” he noted.

The men were accompanied by Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon and others. Harmon in brief remarks to the media said the former CEO has done a good job at the GL&SC during his tenure.

“These trumped-up charges made against him about him selling some land above the value, this is crazy, it is outrageous and I can’t find the right adjective, I can’t use the right adjective on your cameras but certainly what we are seeing here is a level of vindictiveness,” he noted.

He also alleged that the attacks are racially motivated as the Government harass and humiliate persons who worked under the APNU+AFC administration. The APNU+AFC governed from 2015 to 2020.