UMDC wants illegal mining, better healthcare addressed at NTC

Day ahead of the Conference of the National Toshaos Council (NTC), the Upper Mazaruni District Council (UMDC) is hoping that issues of illegal mining, and the need for proper facilities will be addressed. The conference is set for August 28 to 31.
The UMDC represents the eight villages and their satellite communities within the Upper Mazaruni. The eight villages are Paruima, Kako, Philippi, Chinoweing, Jawalla, Waramadong, Kamarang, and Omanaik/Kambaru.

This week, the UMDC held an extraordinary meeting where representatives of the villages gathered in Kamarang to prepare for their participation at the NTC.
A statement outlined, “Key concerns raised during the meeting were illegal mining on Indigenous lands, inadequate health and educational facilities and services, the Government’s persistence in ignoring Indigenous peoples’ right to Free Prior and Informed Consent, and amendments to policies and legislations that impact Indigenous peoples.”
As the council calls for better healthcare, this is already been realised with the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital at Kamarang – one of four being built in the hinterland region through a US$97 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan.
Some $100 million was injected in 2022 for Region Seven to upgrade primary healthcare facilities. Another $100 million will be expended throughout this year to address human resources shortfalls.
Meanwhile, the UMDC said it believes a critical step in ensuring that the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected and protected is the revision of the Amerindian Act.

Therefore, the council is hopeful that adequate time will be given to discuss the process of revision of the Amerindian Act, mainly since there are concerns in relation to the revision process.
Last year, the Amerindian Affairs Ministry in collaboration with the Legal Affairs Ministry had announced plans of establishing a committee that would be responsible for consultations in order to revise the Amerindian Act 2006.
The committee would make recommendations and engage every single Amerindian community to solicit recommendations that would eventually make up the amended Amerindian Act.
Some $10 million had already been earmarked by the Amerindian Affairs Ministry in 2022, to establish the committee, the modalities of the consultation process, and the training of facilitators.
Additionally, the UMDC said it endorses the Chinese Landing Village Council’s appeal for a slot on the NTC’s agenda to bring attention to their ongoing land dispute.
This month, the Government announced that all mining operations at Chinese Landing, Region One (Barima-Waini) have been temporarily halted.
The Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Ministry has said that in response to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) precautionary measures issued to Guyana on July 21, 2023, the Government took a decision to stop all mining in Chinese Landing temporarily to allow for a more conducive environment to address the concerns of the community and all concerned.
This, according to the Ministry, comes in response to the claims contained in the IACHR resolution including that community members “felt unsafe even passing through the concessions to the other side to farm, hunt and fish, and to visit our families”.