– should take centre stage during the observation of Heritage Month

OLD Kai would like to see more emphasis during Amerindian heritage month on everything that was done over the past three years to undermine the continued development of our first people by the PNC/R=APNU and AFC.Make no mistake about it, the greatest threat that has emerged to our Amerindians is the political Opposition as the records would show that they have used flowery language to project an image that they are concerned but when it came time for them to demonstrate this in a tangible manner, they turned their backs on our first people.

This is most evident when one simply glances at their pattern of voting in the National Assembly with regard to projects and programmes which directly impact the Amerindian people.

Even in cases where they were forced to support certain initiatives they remained very critical, and I can immediately recall a Ministry of Amerindian Affairs programme to provide transportation for school children in the hinterland where of all persons, AFC MP Valarie Garrido-Lowe had threatened that she and her party would refuse to support it in the National Assembly. This is the very MP who goes into the hinterland and is quite eager to boast about her Amerindian heritage but has sat there and voted against several other programmes intended to benefit hinterland communities, chief of which is the Amerindian Development Fund.

How can the Opposition now go with a straight face into Amerindian communities and tell residents that they are concerned about the youths when they voted down provisions by the PPP/C Government of President Donald Ramotar to provide a variety of training initiatives for these children?

How can they look these children in their eyes and pretend to care when they voted down funding by the PPP/C Government to continue the solar panel distribution programme, which among other things was intended to ensure these kids have conventional illumination to study at nights and more so, from renewable energy sources?

How can they lecture hinterland children about the importance of sports in developing a well-rounded active lifestyle, when they voted down provisions to provide them with sports gears and other equipment which was provided for by the PPP/C Government?

How can they talk about developing village economies so as to provide jobs for Amerindian youths, when they voted down a programme to train these kids in entrepreneurial activities, which included targeted assistance to establish community business ventures and support in acquiring markets, when they voted down this provision which was included in the PPP/C Government Amerindian Development Fund?

How can they tell these Amerindian children that they are concerned about preserving their rich culture and history, when they voted down a PPP/C government programme intended to preserve the traditional languages of our first people?

How can they talk about concern for empowering Amerindian families, especially in the area of Agriculture when they voted down provisions to provide tractors and other machines to assist our indigenous people by the PPP/C Government?

How can they say they are concerned about our Amerindian people having access to not just roads but air travel, especially in cases of emergencies, when they voted down provisions to rehabilitate airstrips in the hinterland?

Old Kai can go on and on, but by now you would have seen the bigger picture. The Opposition is clearly interested in subduing any development for our Amerindians for some nefarious reason. This is not a new policy, as Amerindians suffered tremendously when they had ruled Guyana with an iron fist.

Therefore, as we celebrate Amerindian heritage month, our people will have to assess how far they have come and what are some of those stumbling blocks hindering their continued development. They will have to make a conscious decision on how we move forward.