“Amerindian” could eventually be replaced in Guyana’s laws – GOIP

A list of suggestions for amending the 2006 Amerindian Act were amongst several issues that came up at the 17th General Assembly of the Guyanese Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) held at Wakapoa Village, Region 2 (Pomeroon-Supenaam) on July 31, 2016.

Misnomers such as grant of land title and Amerindian in the Act could be replaced with return and 1st Guyanese respectively, according to a release from the GOIP executive committee.

The organisation noted that the gathering also condemned the practice of a Cabinet Minister exercising powers to dismiss an entire elected village council, amongst other shortcomings in the present Act.

Additional laws, backed by effective law-enforcement the committee felt, are also needed in Guyana’s Constitution to make life tougher for human traffickers of which indigenous females are prime victims.

Moreover during the general assembly, the Wakapoa and other lower Pomeroon indigenous communities bemoaned the gap between promises and deliveries made by past and present Guyana regimes in the quality of Education and Health care systems afforded to villagers.

However, the community’s conceptualisation of a forest preservation/eco-tourism venture at the Moraro area of Wakapoa was widely discussed, with the prospect of much-needed employment for villagers being envisaged.

The committee outlined that plans by Government to relocate the Walter Roth Museum were also given the “thumbs down”, since this could negatively affect many precious ancient pre-Columbus artefacts stored at its present location.

“The GOIP vowed to continue its advocacy for land rights, a green economy, self-empowerment and basic human dignity for Guyana’s First Peoples, some of who have achieved measured successes since the Association’s resuscitation almost three decades ago,” the release outlined.

The release further stated that a mild seismic shift in the GOIP’s leadership also took place at Wakapoa, when Mary Valenzuela of the Warau Nation replaced Colin Klautky as Chief. Others elected to the new female-dominated executive include Esther Robinson (Secretary), Phyl Osorio (Treasurer), Colin Klautky (PRO), Natasha David, Lyn Roberts RN, Ann Payne, Claudette Fleming, Brian Chu, former Region 7 Councillor Victor Lawless and former Wakapoa Toshao Seaford Fredericks.