President admits “much work” remains to be done for hinterland

National Toshaos Conference

In the wake of stinging criticism from the parliamentary Opposition over his Government’s reversal of Indigenous peoples’ rights, President David Granger has admitted that much more work remains to be done in the hinterland.

Granger was at the time speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Toshaos Conference at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre on Monday, where he delivered the feature address.
Only on Sunday the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had called out the Government for its poor track record in office when it came to Indigenous people, in particular their land rights. At the conference on Monday, Granger admitted to the gathering that the Government still has work to do, even as the country is months away from elections.
“We have made great progress in hinterland human development over the past four years. There is still much more work to be done. The gap between hinterland and coastland remains wide,” Granger said.
He added that the NTC, in accordance with the Amerindian Act, is responsible, among other things, for the preparation of plans for promoting hinterland human development. “The Council must do so. I look forward to working with the NTC to further hinterland human development,” he said.

Further elaborating on the role of the NTC, Granger pointed out that the conference presented an opportunity to self-analyse and review the progress that was made since last year’s NTC.
“The National Toshaos’ Council’s Conferences are annual opportunities to expedite plans for social and economic improvement. These conferences are occasions for Indigenous leaders to review the progress they made in developing their villages and to renew their commitment to improve the lives and livelihoods of their people and to repair and remodel their Village Improvement Plans (VIPs) for future years,” he also said.

Reversal
In a statement on Sunday, the parliamentary Opposition took the President to task for his Government’s record on Indigenous rights, even as they welcomed participants in the National Toshaos Conference.
In the statement, the People’s Progressive Party noted that by the Government’s own admission last year, it has not issued any land titles since coming to office. This, according to the party, is despite the fact that when it left office, there was US$10.7 million put aside specifically for land titling.
“In 2018, Vice President and Minister of Indigenous Affairs admitted before the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources that no titles or extensions of lands to Amerindian communities had been issued by his Government. Demarcation of titled lands is now at a stand-still.”
The party also pointed out that due to the Government’s repudiation of the Low Carbon Development Strategy and its related initiatives designed to further national and Indigenous peoples’ development, years of hard work have been jeopardised.
“Under the Low Carbon Development Strategy, several programmes, including multi-year projects, were identified that focused specifically on the development of Amerindian communities – the Amerindian Land Titling Project, the Community Development Plans, the Project for Hinterland Electrification and the Hinterland ICT Project, all were fully funded.”
“All have stagnated due to the Government’s reluctance to move on these issues, or, they have been tarnished with corruption and/or monies have been squandered due to corruption. The Government’s alternative of a Green State Development Strategy remains a mystery with no specific initiatives to address the developmental needs of the people,” the party added.
The PPP was also critical of the Village Improvement Plan initiative touted by the President on Monday. According to the party, it violates the autonomy granted in the Amerindian Act. This plan, according to the party, may end up stalling the titling process even more.