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A promise made since Caroni (1975) Ltd closed its doors 22 years ago materialised yesterday when more than 200 former Caroni workers became the first to be granted parcels of leased land in Penal.

As part of the Caroni Voluntary Separation Package, each former Caroni worker was to be granted one agricultural sublease from the Government through the Commissioner of State Lands (COSL) for a two-acre parcel of land for a 30-year lease.

In 2008, all of the agricul­tural subleases were prepared by the Chief State Solicitor on behalf of the COSL, but in 2010, the Estate Management and Business Development Company Ltd (EMBD) was vested with the head leases for seven agricultural estates, namely Caroni, Jerningham Junction, Felicity 1, Felicity 2, La Gloria, Edinburgh and La Fortune/Picton.