MINISTER of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai has said that the National Toshao’s Council (NTC) has been meeting more than the once every two years as required by the legislation.

She made this disclosure in a recent press conference in the Ministry’s boardroom on Thomas and Quamina Streets, Georgetown
The minister noted that this regular meeting of the Council means that they are very optimistic that it has a function which is applicable in supporting the leaders with respect to being able to promote village development and deal with other matters for which they are mandated.
She related that last year’s Toshaos election was a very successful one in which 96 Toshaos were elected, including the chairman for the NTC, Moraikobai’s Dereck John.
According to her, there has been a reduction in the female members being a part of the executive, as there’s only one female Amerindian leader on the council, as opposed to two from the previous term.
She noted that this was not by design, but is as a result of the elections, noting that this reduction is not hampering the activeness of the NTC.
The minister also noted that while  there were several community councils’ Toshaos being elected, they also had leaders coming from settlements, “which obviously are not fully fledged  Amerindian villages but they are settlements that in the future I believe will probably meet village status.”
According to her, the Government of Guyana has found it necessary, and has willingly been able to recognise that these settlements exist and therefore all of the settlements identified continue to follow procedures set out by the Amerindian Act with respect to their management.
She noted that while settlements are very stable and have the similar characteristics of a community and a village, they do not meet the criteria of village status as yet.
“And those criteria as you would know are that they should have a population of more than 150 and they should be in existence for 25 years. When those are met they are considered eligible for titling,” she said.
The minister also informed that under village administration, the Ministry has completed 14 village audits which is permissible under the legislation.
She related that these audits were done to validate complaints received by the ministry and also perception by the public that many of the village councils are not very transparent and accountability might have been an issue.
She further stated that while there might be some minor issues with respect to accountability, the major constraint in the village council has been the capacity to keep records and to fall in line with respect to the executive of the village councils who is responsible for disbursing and recording expenditures and income
According to her, the NTC and the Ministry will have to pursue how best they will support the village council in building their capacity with respect to accountability, and also ensure that their approach is in keeping with the legislation.