ToRs for land rights CoI too vague

– APA maintains full objection, calls for review

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) is maintaining its strong objection to the land rights Commission of Inquiry (CoI), which was set up by Government to look into the joint and communal ownership of lands acquired by freed Africans and the claims of Amerindian land titling.

Head of the APA, Jean La Rose, said the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the CoI were vague, as they did not define clear objectives of addressing the issue of communal lands belonging to Amerindians and, as such, the organisation is calling for them to be reviewed.

La Rose contends that land issues both on the coast and for Indigenous communities should not be placed together, as they were not connected in any way. The organisation is of the strong opinion that the CoI infringes on the rights of Amerindians to have their land issues addressed properly.

The APA official told Guyana Times, in a recent interview, that discussions surrounding Amerindian land titling and demarcation have gone a far way through the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF)-funded project, which saw engagements with some villages and communities.

While explaining that the project is not very comprehensive, since it only deals with

APA Director Jean La Rose

land titling for a few Amerindian communities, La Rose said that Amerindian leaders and villagers were still able to sit down and look at a number of mechanisms for addressing the land titling process in fine detail.

“It is enough information that could have transferred itself into a broader process…We felt having discussed this and gone a long way in terms of addressing Indigenous land issues and understanding what the various problems were, and basically approaching these issues from that standpoint was enough to continue this process by itself,” she remarked.

La Rose also lamented the fact that the Commission was established even without basic consultation with Amerindians, arguing that although there is need for a review of the Amerindian Act, it contains a procedure for receiving, assessing, and deciding on title or extension applications.

The APA also raised concerns again about the composition of the seven-member CoI team, citing the need for more experts in Amerindian land titling and demarcation.

“For any commission or anybody dealing with Indigenous issues especially lands, our feeling is there needs to be people with competence specifically dealing with this issue. International law treats the issue differently, because we have collective private rights as opposed to private land ownership.”

Other organisations, including the Guyanese Organisation of Indigenous Peoples, the Amerindian Action Movement, South Central Peoples Development Association, and the National Amerindian Development Foundation, have all protested the merging of the two issues under one blanket CoI.

Opposition Member of Parliament and former Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai had tabled a motion at the May 8 sitting of the National Assembly calling for the revocation of the CoI.

Sukhai’s motion stated that the ToRs of the CoI were published in the Official Gazette on March 11, 2017, the day after six of the seven members of the Commission were sworn in. It added that in so doing, the Government denied the National Toshaos Council (NTC); Amerindian communities and Amerindian Non-Governmental Organisations the right to be informed and consulted as to the rationale for and the objectives of the Commission. The motion, therefore, called for an immediate revocation of the CoI.

The final report of the Commission is expected to be handed over to the President on or before November 1, unless an extension is granted.

The CoI is all set to begin public hearings in June, officially starting its work. An employee had told this publication that a tentative date of June 7 was set for the start of all public hearings.

The hearings would be conducted at the Commission’s Secretariat at the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) office. However, the Commissioners are urging persons to visit the Hadfield Street office at any time providing they have information to aid the working of the Commission.