Indigenous communities have seen massive development under PPP/C – Jagdeo

– as National Toshaos Council Conference 2025 gets underway

Ahead of the National Toshao Council (NTC) Conference that gets underway today, Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo has reminded that under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, indigenous communities were able to see massive development they never realised under the former coalition Government.

During his most recent press conference, Jagdeo referenced the PPP/C’s long track record of investing in Amerindian communities. He pointed to the billions of dollars spent on infrastructure and improvements to the lives of the indigenous population.
“Lethem trail: all the bridges are being done now. We have eight villages where we’re doing paved roads. And this just mirrors what’s going on here. We’ve had 30,000 people who got a free solar panel since we got into office. And we just brought in 7000-8000 for the riverain areas. Tractor and trailer for each community. Hundreds of Amerindians trained in the police force, as nurses.”
“I can go down a long list of things being done. So, when people pop in these communities now and talk nonsense? We have a track record with these communities. And when we were in opposition, these communities voted overwhelmingly for the PPP. You think, with our track record from 2020 to now, they’ll suddenly give up on the PPP? What’s the alternative? They know that,” he said.
As such, Jagdeo disabused persons of believing that these communities will suddenly turn on the PPP/C. While he acknowledged that they don’t have 100 per cent support and that a few “PPP haters” may be induced to voice opposition to the PPP/C, the VP made it clear that the PPP/C enjoys overwhelming majority support in these indigenous communities.
“We already got the overwhelming support, in opposition, when APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) was running in there and carrying all sort of things. What do you think now? [When] the Toshaos come out, ask them about it. The help they get in their communities. I didn’t even talk about training programmes for women, the housing programme alone. We’re doing 300 plots in the Mahdia sub-district. Even Mahdia is not all Amerindians, but we won the township there.”
“Every one of these communities have seen massive development. Some of them got business grants, etc. So, I can tell you what we did. Let APNU tell you. They’ll have a hard time… so I’m looking forward to (sections of the media) putting forward all week, ‘oh this community not very happy’ and all of that. The APA (Amerindian Peoples Association) line all the time. APA is PNC. But they’re engaged in wishful thinking.”
In this year’s budget, a sum of $7.2 billion had been set aside to enhance welfare of Amerindian communities. Of this, $150 million was budgeted in 2025 to support the NTC conference that is being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC)… an increase from the $136.5 million spent last year for the same purpose.
As part of the PPP/C Administration’s commitment towards the recognition and protection of the collective rights of Amerindian Villages and Communities, this year’s budget also allocated over $80 million for the revision of the 2006 Amerindian Act. In its manifesto in the 2020 General and Regional Elections, it had promised a review of the Amerindian Act after a process of extensive public consultations.
The Amerindian Act of 2006 is the primary legislation that governs the affairs of the Amerindian peoples of Guyana. It provides for the recognition, and protection of collective rights of Amerindian villages and communities in Guyana and the promotion of good governance.
When it comes to land rights for Indigenous populations, the Government had invested US$900,000 in the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) Project in 2024, underscoring its commitment to addressing historical land tenure issues and promoting indigenous rights.
The expenditure formed part of the Amerindian Affairs Ministry’s $800 million budgetary allocation for that year. Between 2020 and 2024 alone, more than 21 land titles were issued. In 2024, the Government issued two certificates of title, granted six absolute land grants, and successfully conducted seven demarcation exercises.