FOLLOWING a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs and the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), members of the latter body have thrown their support behind the government’s land commission of inquiry (CoI).
This follows the recent holding of the NRDDB board meeting which was held last week at the Bina Hill Institute at Annai. According to a release from the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Vice-President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock, later cast away all doubts regarding the CoI one day later when he met with members of the NRDDB.
The NTC attended the opening of the statutory board meeting of the NRDDB last Wednesday at Bina Hill Institute, where members and partners of the board were told by three members of the NTC that government has plans to utilise funds allocated for the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) project.
Addressing leaders a day later, Minister Allicock said he felt disrespected by the NTC leaders, whom the ministry noted were “acting in isolation and have been misleading residents of indigenous villages and communities before fully comprehending the TORs set out in the CoI”.
Allicock stated that funds allocated for the ALT Project will be expended on that project, thus dispelling claims by the NTC members. He said the CoI was set up to investigate issues regarding all ethnicities, noting that several executives from various indigenous groups had attended discussions on the issue.
He said despite the negative forces, the government will continue to promote unity amongst Guyanese, noting that instead of coming on board and assisting the CoI to formulate a plan of action, the NTC has chosen to venture into murky waters. According to the release, several Toshaos who attended the statutory meeting last week were unsure of the position taken by the NTC.
Chair of the NRDDB, Anthony Andries, said he is convinced that the NTC Executive is blatantly refusing to deal with the facts, or they are using this as a political strategy. “For me is either of the two because if they didn’t tell us well this is their stand and this is the other part of the story, but they didn’t do that. I also think that they have withheld key information from us, they didn’t share the ALT part”, Andries said.
Young Indigenous leader Jessica George encouraged colleagues to “let us make wise decisions so that we as leaders in our communities can make a difference.” Russian Doric, a youth representative on the NTC and the Toshao of Yupukari and its three satellites lamented the fact that the NTC should be the body to change the trajectory of the lives of the indigenous peoples.
Toka Village Leader, Delano Davis, said he believes the NTC is pushing a political agenda, noting that the village will not follow such a path. Annai Village Council Toshao Mark George, who also has responsibility for four other villages in Wowetta, Rupertee, Kwatamang and Surama, said “we are in agreement because we need to have our land protected; we don’t want nobody coming in and interfering, so we are in full support and we would also like the ministry to share more information with us as it happens”.
Recently, a statement published in the media from the NTC threatened political ramifications at elections in the year 2020. Government has since dispelled the position taken by the NTC executives, noting that they were being politically driven.