Written By Telesha Ramnarine
AMERINDIAN Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai and her team were commended by Cabinet recently for the successfully organizing the activities that brought close to 200 leaders of Amerindian communities together at the National Toshaos Council (NTC).

Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Roger Luncheon said so Wednesday when he addressed his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President in Georgetown.

The 2013 NTC made it possible for the Amerindian leaders to communicate closely with the leaders of the current administration. “The welfare of our Amerindian brothers and sisters is well considered and well protected by this People’s Progressive Party Civic Government as illustrated over and over again during the days of this NTC.
“A multiplicity of measures – political, financial, legislative, constitutional, statutory, executive – were all considered and many employed or will be employed,” said Luncheon.

TWO RESOLUTIONS
He said two resolutions were near unanimously adopted during the course of the NTC. One dealt with the early determination by the judicial system of outstanding land issues and the second dealt with the negative impact on Amerindian welfare and development that was caused by unfair decisions of political parties.

Meanwhile, Luncheon said last week that the NTC meeting, which was held from October 21 -25 at the Guyana International Conference Centre, made possible unfettered and undivided access to sector ministers and their technical people.

There were “two days of unrehearsed, spontaneous and open discussion on matters that affect their communities. It is intended to render more effective, efficient, equitable…the delivery by government of public goods and services to the Amerindian communities,” said Luncheon.

IMPORTANT FEATURES
Discussions on new initiatives and resolving of continuing matters about implementation were also important features of the engagement, he informed.

The meeting, held annually to provide the platform for dialogue and forward planning for development of Amerindian communities, includes an agenda with the focus on the report of the NTC executive.

Community Development Projects (CDPs), Presidential Grants, Amerindian Land Titling Projects and the Opt-in Mechanism for Amerindian villages and communities were the highlights of the deliberations.

OPT-IN MECHANISM
The Opt-in Mechanism provides an opportunity for titled Amerindian villages with forests to voluntarily include theirs into a performance-based model that has been ascribed to state forests.

The Governments of Guyana and Norway sealed a historic agreement in 2009 for US$250M in performance-based forest carbon payments by 2015. Of the total sum, US$115M has been released from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) and disbursed to fund priority projects under the revolutionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Among them are CDPs designed and approved at the Amerindian community level and land titling.

$1.2B DEPOSITED IN ADF
Last year saw a breakthrough for the Amerindians when $1.2B from GRIF was deposited in the Amerindian Development Fund (ADF) after the Guyana Government and its implementing partner the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed off on the release.

One hundred and sixty-six awaiting CDP, eight percent of which were agriculture-based, moved into implementation immediately. That year Kato, Kariabo, Batavia, Kambaru, Tasarene, Kangaruma, Rupanau and Rivers View received their land titles.

The year was also one of major disappointment when the political opposition cut funding to the LCDS and halted a number of the priority projects that were to fast-track development in Amerindian communities.
This year, like every other, the tosahos interacted with the President and his entire team of Cabinet ministers. Senior and community councillors and leaders from all 10 administrative regions were present.