Indigenous communities call for impartial complaints authority -APA

Government bodies have made decisions about land titling, demarcation and concessions without the communities’ participation and without obtaining their agreement in advance, the Amerindian Peoples Association said in a report.

The report stated that villages and communities in Region One and Region Two are very unhappy about this situation, stating that this is the main cause of mistakes in boundary demarcations, mining and logging concessions being imposed on traditional lands and the conflicts about land and resources that communities are experiencing.

It stated that if a village disagrees with a decision about its title, the only official way it can appeal is by taking the case to the High Court.

However, it stressed that this is not a suitable approach for Villages, as the High Court may take years or even decades to make a judgment; also the process is often costly.

Villages Councils can, and do, send written complaints to Ministers or other organisations such as the Indigenous Peoples Commission but the report said it found that in many cases villages have not seen any improvement in their situation after writing to official bodies.

“Often there is no reply, or the points made by the Village are rejected,” it said.

It highlighted that Guyana’s laws and administration dealing with land issues do not have clear and consistent ways of resolving disputes where there is more than one claim on the land, either for Amerindian titled lands or for tracts of land requested for extension of titles.

Some villages, such as Chinese Landing and Barima Koribao, suspect that mining, logging and other commercial interests have at times influenced GLSC, GFC and GGMC officials to turn a blind eye to conflicts, or to change demarcation lines and surveys to favour mining and logging concessions.

Therefore, the association is calling for Government to set up a fair and clear way for villages and communities to make official complaints about, and appeals against, decisions made by MIPA and/or GLSC on titling, demarcation and giving out land.