Amid COVID-19 pandemic: Regional Leaders’ Meeting to replace National Toshaos Conference

— Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations to be held virtually

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the National Toshaos Council which is normally held annually will be replaced with a series of Regional Leaders’ Meeting.
This is according to Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai during a press briefing at the Ministry’s boardroom where plans for the upcoming Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations were released.
The Minster revealed that discussions at the meetings are expected to be centred around the leaders’ concerns; their development challenges and their input for the upcoming budget for 2022.
“We will present an occasion for the leaders to collaborate…and have an engagement with Ministers to facilitate active discussions on the way forward and more so to address issues that are normally raised at the NTC,” Sukhai related.
She noted that the event will also see regional leaders being elected as executive members of the National Toshaos Council.
With Region One (Barima-Waini) having the largest number of leaders that are expected to be in attendance, Minister Sukhai noted that the region will be split into two sub-districts.
“We’ll have a meeting in the Moruca sub-district and we will also have a meeting in the Mabaruma sub-district.”

Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) are expected to have single meetings.
The coastal regions which comprise Regions three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Five (Mahaica-Berbice); Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) as well as Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) will have their meeting in Region Two at the Mainstay/Wayaka district.
With this new initiative and accommodations set in place for the meetings, it is expected that all COVID-19 protocols and guidelines will be easily maintained throughout the duration of the meetings.
Meanwhile, the launch of Amerindian Heritage is slated for September 1 but will not entail the usual fanfare. This time around, the celebrations will be held virtually with several planned activities.
The celebrations will be observed under the theme “Maintaining our Traditional Integrity, Celebrating our Cultural Identity” with the interpretation being “we believe that Amerindians should be proud of their background, we also believe that they should continue to work to sustain their traditional practices by various means, and they should uphold their culture so that they’ll be able to pass it on to the current generation and for the future generations to come.”
This year’s celebratory events will see three events as opposed to five in the previous years.
These events are a virtual concert, an art & crafts exhibition in honour of Stephen Campbell, and a series of Amerindian cuisine samplings at the Amerindian Affairs Ministry, Thomas Street, Georgetown.