IT LOOKS like the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) is continuing its political agenda with its latest attempt to discredit the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Those who have been following environmental issues in Guyana will recall how its opposition several years ago led to the scuttling of a World Bank project that would have led to the establishment of a protected area.
That project would have benefitted Amerindian communities and contributed to the climate change fight through some US$5M in funding from the World Bank.
But the APA used the land rights issue as a ploy to derail the protected area project.
Is it aiming for the same goal in the continuing campaign against the LCDS which has been embraced by so many other stakeholders, including the majority of organisations representing indigenous people?
The question arises because the APA stayed away from more than three months of sustained consultations on the LCDS, mainly among Amerindian communities, and then organised a workshop of select Amerindian leaders out of which flowed a statement claiming that the consultations were a farce and the LCDS should be put on hold.
These can only be viewed as further tactics designed to shoot down the LCDS and the government and others are right to react strongly.
I am not sure what the APA has done for our indigenous people as it seems to me that it’s run by only a few persons who are well connected to opposition and other groups.
APA Programme Administrator, Ms. Jean La Rose won The Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002.
How much of her prize money did she donate towards development of the indigenous people?
The LCDS is designed to accelerate the development of Guyana for all Guyanese, including the indigenous people and the Guyanese population has to be on guard against those who would want to thwart this development.