THE United Nations (UN) has designated 2015-2024 “International Decade for People of African Descent.” It is expected that Guyana as a member state with a population that comprises the identified demographic will see Government moving to ensure, after working with stakeholders, that a Plan Of Action is put in place to bring about what the UN seeks to achieve. A Plan of Action does not mean having a document to say “look, we have a plan,” it means putting the necessary mechanisms in place that will bring about results and impact people’s lives in positive ways.

When in 2011 the UN declared it “International Year for People of African Descent,” the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) wrote then President Bharrat Jagdeo outlining a menu of measures worthy of consideration and implementation by the Government. Not unexpectedly, with Jagdeo’s racist outlook to life, he neither sought to engage the GTUC or implement any measure, opting instead to have the State host a couple of fetes, in the usual trivialising of matters of import to this community.

Reproduced below, in part, is what the GTUC wrote Jagdeo. It should be said that these remain matters of import to the GTUC and those not implemented, it is desired that they be.

January 17, 2011

His Excellency:

Re: Matters deserving of the administration’s attention as Guyana marks International Year for People of African Descent

The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), in meeting its responsibilities to the communities within which it operates, embraces the vision set out in the United Nations Declaration on the International Year for People of African Descent.…Having considered the positions articulated by the UN and leaders of the international community, the GTUC believes that Guyana, as a member state, is aptly positioned to rise to the challenges by incorporating in its agenda pertinent issues to the African community.

We are forwarding herein for urgent consideration, a list of issues to be addressed in the African community which requires your government’s urgent attention in this International Year for People of African Descent. Conscious that our list below does not include every area the community would like to have addressed, the government is urged to pay special attention to these herein identified, in the development and execution of an agenda consistent with the UN’s charge and goals….

The following issues are brought to your attention:
1.         Respect for African Rights consistent with international conventions and charters, Universal Declarations of Human Rights, international laws, the Guyana Constitution and the Rule of Law.
2.         Respect for the rights to Collective Bargaining and Freedom of Association in the Public Service, Public Sector and Bauxite Industry.
3.         Accurate recording, respect and acknowledgment of Africans’ contributions towards the development of Guyana.
4.         Engaging African organisations and those who represent Africans’ interests in accordance with the Constitution and Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon’s calls that “the success of the International Year requires concerted efforts across the United Nations system and at the regional and national levels, with the widest possible engagement and participation, and the full integration of Africans into their social, economic and political life and at all levels of decision-making.”
5.         Recommit to parliament the Opposition’s 2007 Motion “That an African Land Commission be established, similar in status to the Rights Commission established under Article 232G of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to determine the issue of ancestral land rights of African-Guyanese,” and pass same into law.
6.         Establish a Commission similar to the June 1948 Commission that enquired into the shooting of striking sugar workers, to enquire into the May 1999 police shooting of unarmed striking public servants who were picketing peacefully in the vicinity of John Fernandes Wharf.
7.         Establish the Rights Commissions Secretariat.
8.         Establish a Commission to enquire into the hundreds of extra-judicial murders from 2002-2006, as already called for by the Joint Opposition People’s Partnership and the international community.
9.         Implement the recommendations of the 2004 Disciplined Forces Commission Report.
10.       Implement recommendations made by the UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Gay Mc Dougall, from her visit to Guyana in 2008.
11.       Release to the relevant authority the tapes of opposition politicians engaging criminal elements as a measure to aid society’s efforts to get to the bottom of the mayhem that held the East Coast of Demerara under siege and which has served to escalate racial tensions, resulting in the loss of economic livelihoods, the dislocation of families and loss of lives of hundreds of women and children inclusive.
12.       Develop and implement regulations to give effect to the 1997 Occupational Safety and Health Act, necessary to protect the workers of Guyana.
13.       Implement the 2001 Hoyte/Jagdeo Agreement to address the concerns of the Depressed Communities of Fyrish/Gibraltar; Hogstye/Lancaster; Blueberry Hill/Victory Valley; West Watooka; Enterprise; Buxton; Meten-meer-zorg and De Kinderen.
14.       Implement the 8th March 2000 Guyana Trades Union Congress(GTUC) /Government of Guyana  Agreement which dealt with addressing crime and the development of housing complex for workers.
15.       Honour the 12th December, 2008 Chief Justice (ag.) Ian Chang’s ruling to “stop discriminating and penalizing Lindeners by denying them a broadcasting licence” (Stabroek News, December 13, 2008).
16.       Institute compulsory arbitration on the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) and /Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) impasse which commenced in 2009.
17.       Return tax-free overtime achieved by bauxite workers in 1988 through their single-handed struggle which has been taken away from them by this administration, even as it is maintained in the Indian-dominated sugar sector. This was awarded to the sugar sector simultaneously as it was awarded to the bauxite sector by the Hoyte administration;
18.       The establishment of a national stakeholders committee to look into the vendors’ problems that respect their right to work and participation in decision-making that impact their lives.
19.       Return the yearly grants to the Guyana Trades Union Congress and Critchlow Labour College (CLC), withheld since 2000 by the Guyana Government, since the opportunities granted by the CLC are predominantly accessed by African-Guyanese and offer youths a second chance.
20.       Conduct a public inquiry into the GB&GWU’s charges of discrimination against bauxite workers and their communities based on their race, political geography and perceived political allegiance.
21.       Establishment of a Guyana Presidential Research Institute, where information on the work and lives of all past presidents can be available to the public.
22.       Establish the Procurement Commission to ensure equitable allocation of contracts.
23.       Establish a national stakeholders commission for the distribution and re-evaluation of lands and houselots.
24.       Resizing and relocation of the Georgetown Prison and the revamping of the penal and custodial system to facilitate more  community services as penalty for minor offences.
25.       The re-introduction of National Service to provide opportunities to youths and those in need of second chances.

As citizens of this world, it is opportune to reiterate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which affirms, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” To this end, Guyana as signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and your administration as the manager of the state’s business, are expected to work meaningfully towards the realization of the UN Secretary-General’s call to eradicate racism once and for all.