PARTICIPATION in the National Toshaos Conference to be held next week will not be limited to formal village chiefs, but will see attendance of leaders from many of the Amerindian villages which do not have this formal level of leadership, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon Cabinet disclosed Wednesday. “ Government has recognized that the most important voices come from the community; and although we have formal toshaos from titled communities, there are many community leaders from untitled communities who are  not eligible to attend the Toshaos Conference, but they are still recognized as leaders of communities.

“As such, they have been invited to attend, and will participate fully alongside the formal leaders in giving voice to the issues which resonate within their communities.”

Making the disclosure during a post Cabinet briefing, Dr. Luncheon also disclosed that the Amerindian community leaders will, during the conference, be able to access every member of the Cabinet as well as all heads of state agencies whose work impacts on their lives and welfare in one way or another.

The event, he stressed, would bring to the fore the most important voices of the Amerindian people and bring leaders into intimate contact with the decision makers.
The National Toshaos Conference is a biennial event aimed at expanding the national development and transformation processes to cater for the needs of indigenous people.

The conference is to be held at the International Conference Centre at Liliendaal from July 25 to 29.
Giving an update on preparations for what he described as “an historic event” Dr. Luncheon said that a “grand opening” is planned for 13:30hrs Monday July, 25 at that venue.
The HPS disclosed that government expects that many issues affecting the Amerindian communities will be raised and definitively addressed.
Among these are likely to be the issue of land titling, extension of land titling and related matters, such as demarcation, all of which have been kept on the front burner by the current Administration.
The issue of equity, of government’s closure of the gap between the delivery of goods and services in Amerindian and non-Amerindian households, is also likely to be raised, with participants giving their own assessments of government’s performance to date in this regard.
Then there is also the issue of recent flood-related disasters in many Amerindian communities.
Government expects that the participants will also discuss the devastation caused by recent flooding in their communities, make comments on the government’s emergency responses and make recommendations for better future responses based on lessons learned.
The last Toshaos’ conference, on July 27 to 31, 2009, saw a wide range of matters important to Amerindians being discussed.
During those deliberations, 11 Amerindian communities received their land titles, including those at Chinese Landing, Muritaro, Great Falls, Malali, Nappi, St. Ignatius Homestead and St. Ignatius Farmlands, Tobago and Wauna Hill, Karau, and Kwebanna. They also received presidential grants and all terrain vehicles (ATVs).