Shame on the AFC for constantly targeting Amerindian children!

– Will their continued attacks ever cease?

EVER since the AFC, now popularly known as (Amerindian For Cuts) teamed up with the APNU to wage a war against Guyana by using their combined one-seat majority in Parliament against the PPP/C, our ‘first people’ have been one of their main victims.Old Kai has never forgiven them for what they have done to his people and it makes his heart heavy, when witnessing the continuation of their relentless campaign, even targeting our children as was recently the case when they refused to support funding for the provision of transportation to school children living in hinterland areas.
Imagine, of all persons AFC Member of Parliament Valerie Garrido-Lowe is one of those who objected to our children being provided with transportation. She is one of the individuals who parades around like she has the interest of Amerindians at heart; well I hope that our people are taking note of her actions now.
It is not a national secret that Amerindian children residing in hinterland communities in some cases have to travel great distances to get to school. The AFC is operating like if there are bus services operating in the jungle as is the case on the coastland, where at any given moment you will see a bus speeding around the corner with the conductor half way out shouting, ‘Paramakatoi to Kato’ or ‘Tiger Pond to Karasabai’. Or maybe these people think Amerindian parents can quickly call a taxi to drop off their kids across the mountain.  We do not have commercial transportation, thankfully, the Government since 1992 has worked to establish road linkages in most if not all Amerindian communities. So in some cases children do not have to paddle for miles in a canoe anymore to get to school. What is so wrong with providing a bus to take these children to school? It appears the AFC and APNU would prefer Amerindian children remain in a state where they cannot access education or, for that matter, be placed on an even footing with other segments of society where they can make a greater contribution to the development of their country.
Why Old Kai is even surprised though, for when the PNC (now APNU) was in Government, our population was on the verge of extinction in Guyana. We were neglected and starved of any development; malnutrition, record high infant mortality rates and absence of schools and basic medical facilities was the order of the day. You give these very people a little power in the form of a ‘one seat majority’ and once again they continue their efforts to starve us of resources.
This is not the only incident, as they have also slashed the Presidential grants to Amerindian villages during their budget cuts. The AFC and APNU love Amerindians so much that they slashed the entire Low Carbon Development Strategy which affected several projects that would have directly served to further empower Amerindians, especially our children. These included the installation of 11,000 solar home systems in 150 hinterland communities, which serves to assist our children in their studies at night.
Slashing the LCDs also meant hampering the One Laptop per Family programme where Amerindian children also stood to benefit as well as other low income families across Guyana. You still do not believe there is a deliberate attempt on the part of the Opposition to attack Amerindian children? Well how do you explain their actions of slashing funding for NCN when they were told beforehand that significant portions of those monies went towards the upkeep of at least one radio station in the hinterland which specifically assists school children and the Educational Channel which is broadcasted nationally?
But our adults were not left out. The APNU and AFC went into our communities. They heard our complaints about the bad state of some of our airstrips and promised to do something about it. They ensured they got the cameras ready when they ‘cried crocodile tears’ about the situation only for them to slash the funding provided by the PPP/C Government to rehabilitate these very airstrips in the 2013 budget.
Old Kai wants to make it clear to the AFC and APNU; Amerindians will refuse to be regarded as ‘collateral damage’ in their continued war against the PPP/C Government and Guyana’s economy.
Congratulations are also extended to my brothers and sisters who had the courage to brave the weather and turn up in their numbers outside of Parliament buildings a few days ago.
You saw that first-hand with the recent picketing action outside of the National Assembly against the Opposition efforts to prevent Amerindian children from being provided with transportation to take them to school. Rest assured that they will continue to make their voices heard whenever the AFC and APNU pursue their campaign of discrimination against Amerindians in Guyana.