Rupununi refutes ‘rigging’

NEWLY-elected Rupununi toshaos have all refuted allegations of “rigging” in the recently held national village council elections in indigenous communities. The 57 toshaos as well as councillors have openly and loudly affirmed “YES” to the question, “Were your elections free and fair?”

During May-June, elections were held in 115 Amerindian villages, together with some 46 satellite communities. The Opposition may have reasons to be bitter, as many of the toshaos who were once openly associated with the current Opposition party, have been replaced by younger leaders. Among the new toshaos, there are 14 women.

Although I am still within the post-surgery period, when almost everyone would advise me to “take it easy”, I accepted an invitation by my friend Brian Allicock, Chairman of the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine), to attend the Regional Toshao’s Conference in the border town of Lethem, which was held Friday last.

PICTURESQUE SAVANNAH
The Rupununi is Guyana’s south-west region that borders Brazil, and is populated mainly by Indigenous Peoples –Wapishana, Macushi, Wai-Wai and Patamona. For centuries, these “First Nations” have lived in the 5,000 square miles of savannah grasslands and forested mountains, the most picturesque being the Kanuku range.

We could see from the air, isolated large swamps and tracks of flood waters along the banks of the Rupununi River, criss-crossed by the red-brown trails and roadway. From above, this part of Guyana looked serene. The low-hanging white clouds held no ominous threat of rains, which had pounded the mountains and had resulted in over-topping of the Takatu River. As we made the landing, the Tabatinga Bridge stood tall over the receding water, and was a reassurance that that part of the Rupununi was no longer under threat of flooding.

I was there last year, at this time, when Brazilian rivers had backed up, and some communities on the Guyana side were affected by flooding. This year, personnel from the Civil Defence Commission went early into the area and offered help in anticipation of serious flooding, which was averted.

Once on the ground, it was evident that the Opposition was mobilising, and that a show-down was certain. At the conference, the Opposition was quick to work up steam with claims that the region, under the new Coalition Government, was showing “progressive levels of neglect”. That opinion, however, was not shared by the Regional Chairman.

In pre-emptive and anticipatory remarks, he had announced that his Region was “leading the way” in promoting development and meaningful involvement of Rupununi residents.

STACCATO OF FALSE CLAIMS
I had not planned to speak at any length at the toshaos conference, but, as a politician who had seen many battles, I was forced into a comprehensive rebuttal of the allegations made by the Opposition, which was represented by three sitting Members of Parliament.

I understood that the Opposition’s intention was to do a sting job to whip up rage amongst the toshaos. So they made multiple allegations about elections rigging, gerrymandering of village borders, lack of consent, inadequate funds for Amerindian development, and failure of the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS). I had anticipated that the Opposition would encourage toshaos to walk out by the time I got to the podium.
But the village leaders were unmoved by the staccato of false claims.

They certainly showed that they knew better, as they eagerly awaited my address. By the time I was finished, the elite corps of Oppositionists unceremoniously walked away.
It just wasn’t true that the new government didn’t allocate funds for Upper Takatu/Upper Essequibo. I quoted figures to show that over these years, Government has spent over $780 million in presidential grants and on capital works. And as an additional show of goodwill, I handed out another tranche of $20 million in presidential grants to several villages.

As a striking example of how the Region was being transformed, I mentioned the introduction of hinterland radio stations – Lethem and Aishalton and Radio Piwomak; and as I did, toshaos responded with prolonged applause.
They seemed very pleased about the provision of free Internet access at several ICT hubs at public offices, and at schools.

And they greeted, enthusiastically, the promise that soon, governmental services would be provided Online to apply for passports and birth certificates.

NO NEGLECT
There could be no “progressive neglect” when toshaos could look around and see the change of Lethem into a town; when they could access a new Magisterial District Court and fire station; witness the growth of the Lethem Industrial site; buses for schoolchildren in villages such as Annai and Aishalton; the construction of the water reservoir on Nappi lands, which would hold 4.5 million cubic meters of water, etc.

I announced that as soon as the rains eased, drilling of eight wells will commence, which will store water for the drought seasons. While rehabilitation of the Lethem town road network is in progress, with asphaltic concrete surface, the Linden-Lethem road has been placed again on the front-burner. Funds have been allocated to design and construct a research station at Pirara to facilitate herds of cattle, poultry rearing, fish ponds, orchards, a huge reservoir and an abattoir.

In the meantime, eight villages are benefitting from a US$3.1M sustainable hinterland housing project; and monies would be sourced to expand the Lethem Hospital’s maternity waiting room.
While the toshao conference continued, we journeyed to St Ignatius where a full benab was waiting to honour participants in the HEYS training programme. There, we handed out prizes of $100,000 each to the top five young entrepreneurs.

Under the programme, young people were supported to access small loans, and to benefit from the free distribution of agricultural tools, sewing machines, computers, stoves and catering kits.

We met an otherwise able young man with one leg, who explained how HEYS helped him to start a butchery and cattle farm from which he makes a weekly profit of $30,000; and how he hoped to be the single largest supplier of fresh beef in Rupununi.
There were women who exhibited their bottled honey and canned peanut butter as a result of support from the programme.

RECEPTIVE EARS
It is clear that the message of development is reaching receptive ears in Upper Takatu/Upper Essequibo, and the tune of “rigging” is no longer pleasing to the ears. The Opposition cannot go against the tide of cooperation across party lines for community development. It cannot grow on negativity, as DDL entrepreneur, Komal Samaroo has said in another context.

“Rupununi Rising” is the title of a five-minute television production by the Department of Public Information. It captures the essence of the changes taking place in our hinterland communities, and our Indigenous Peoples are more likely to be convinced with what they see, rather than being fooled by politicians who peddle propaganda about suspected rigging and conjured future rigging of elections.

The Opposition must either dump that old tune or its current leadership, or both.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.