Dear Editor,
The Government has deliberately ignored the existence of the Amerindian Act and in particular, Section VI of the Amerindian Act. This section is dedicated to addressing granting of lands to Amerindian communities, those without land titles, and, also granting of extensions to those requesting additional lands. This is a very important section of the Act as it removed the need for any middle man (such as a Commission) from this process. It is the community/village that will interact directly with the Government and negotiate a mutually agreed settlement. It places the responsibility on the Government, through the Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister to act. It is the Minister with responsibility for Amerindian/Indigenous affairs that is given statutory responsibilities to protect their rights and is empowered to address land claims through the Amerindian Act.
The present Minister, Fourth Vice President, Sydney Allicock, MP, can meet with each community applying right now or those which have already applied and negotiated, albeit in consultation with other State agencies, as done in the past. If there are any controversies/difficulties, these can be settled through the process laid out in the Amerindian Act. Any difficulties encountered from time to time have less to do with the Act itself and more to do with situations where land was previously given out for mining and forestry concessions; for example, which now conflict with a given community’s application for land. In short, there is no need for a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) or an Indigenous Lands Commission as the Act is adequate and has been used effectively and successfully with regards to Amerindian land rights.
One may, therefore, conclude, that it is either that the President has no confidence in his Fourth Vice President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs to deal with the land issues before him, or the Minister’s authority has been taken away, or, the Minister has chosen to give up his authority.
In light of the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry on Lands, actions of the Government towards Amerindian land rights and rights since taking office, expose an objective which is sinister:-
* Within two months of taking office, the Government closed down the Amerindian Land Titling Unit at the Office of the President, and terminated all the staff, this was allowed to go on for almost a year. Consequentially, pending demarcations and surveying also ground to a halt. No wonder those communities which applied for land or extensions prior to the 2015 General and Regional Elections are deeply worried, moreso in the light of the Terms of Reference of the CoI.
* Funds designated to support the Amerindian Community Development Plans and projects approved under the Norwegian Agreement have been stymied over the last 23 months in violation of the said Agreement.
* In July 2015, the Government terminated 1972 Amerindian community service officers, the largest single termination of employees by the State since the early 1980s!
* The Hinterland Household Solar Electrification Project which provided solar units to 13,170 households in Amerindian communities has also been halted, while 6000 of these units purchased before the elections have been “redeployed” for use at the Ministry of the Presidency and State House.
* The One Laptop Per Family has been dismantled and the allocation of laptops for one hundred ICT hubs in Amerindian communities has also fallen by the wayside.
* The principal of “Free Prior and Informed Consent” enshrined in the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been honoured in the breach repeatedly as is the case with the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry on Lands, and, the one-shot meeting recently held on proposed amendments to the Amerindian Act in the capital city instead of in the communities with their elected councils in the regions as was done with the Amerindian Act.
With regards to the latter, one may rationally ask the Minister or any Cabinet member what are the amendments the Government wishes to make to the Amerindian Act. What are the deficiencies it wishes to correct? I am confident that other than renaming it the “Indigenous” Act, they will have nothing to contribute.
The Amerindian Act stands in the way of a grander design of the Government, and the Commission of Inquiry is its first manoeuvre.
The Parliamentary Opposition’s request to the Speaker for an Adjournment Motion on a Definite Matter of Urgent Public Importance to discuss the Commission and to call for its revocation on April 13, 2017 was considered “not urgent” although the Commission had already been appointed on March 10, 2017 with a deadline to report to the President by November, 2017. Again no surprise there, only one of four requests for such adjournment motions have been allowed by the Speaker!
The Parliamentary Opposition submitted another motion again calling for the revocation of the Commission of Inquiry on April 25, 2017. Alas, the motion was allowed by the Speaker but stripped of nine clauses and one be its resolved clause! It is listed on the Order paper in its amended version for the May 8 sitting.
If the Government’s intentions are not sinister, then why was this Commission set up in such a surreptitious manner? The Government could not be so obtuse or power drunk to think that Guyanese would not recognise that this is an issue of such complexity and so fraught with controversy that it would risk social cohesion and national unity?
I hold to my opinion that the Commission of Inquiry on Lands, defined by its Terms of Reference, is a sinister move.
I stand in solidarity with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, the National Toshaos Council and the Amerindian non-governmental organisations and communities in calling for the revocation of this Commission.
To be silent on this issue is allow the Government unfettered power to continue to reverse democratic gains made over the years, especially with regard to Amerindian land rights. Like those citizens who are making their voices heard on the parking meters in Georgetown, VAT on education goods and services, the closure of sugar estates, on the ban on used tyres, to name the most recent, we must also let our voices be heard in opposition to this Commission of Inquiry.
Yours sincerely,
Gail Teixeira, MP,
PPP/C Chief Whip
