THE postponement of the ‘Toshao’ elections in a few Amerindian communities has to do with the illegalities that obtained prior to the change of Government. This is according to Advisor on Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Mervyn Williams, who explained that the elections were postponed because the new Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affair will not “superintend or be a part of any unlawful act.”

“We will not be a part of any election for CDCs. That is not our remit,” Williams said in an invited comment to the Government Information Agency. The Advisor to the Minister was speaking to GINA in response to an article published in yesterday’s edition of the Guyana Times newspaper. The article stated that Amerindians in the communities of Four Mile and Falls Top, Region 1, are complaining about the last minute postponement of the highly anticipated Toshaos elections in several Amerindian communities across Guyana, and are now questioning the Government’s sincerity in promoting indigenous peoples’ development.
However, Williams explained that these two communities have Community Development Councils (CDCs) set up by the former administration. He pointed out that CDCs are non- existent in law, and moreover, fell under the remit of the then Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
However, according to the Advisor to the Minister, in the past, the then Amerindian Affairs Ministry ran elections for village councils and toshaos, alongside CDCs elections, contrary to the Amerindian Act, which provides specifically for the elections of Village Councils and Toshaos.
Also, in the past, and based on the Amerindian Act, the Regional Executive Officers (REOs) were the returning officers for these elections. To this end, the REOs were under the impression that it was business as usual so they were prepared to run off both the Toshaos’ and CDCs elections at the same time, Williams explained.
According to Williams, communications would have been sent by the Minister of Communities to the Regional officials not to proceed with these CDCs elections.
It is indeed unfortunate that the timing of the notification was off, Williams said. “That is to be regretted. Any inconvenience associated with that, the ministry regrets,” he said, but pointed out that if CDCs are to be proceeded with, that is a question for the Minister in charge of Communities.
William also noted his extreme disappointment over reading statements in the article attributed to Ms Yvonne Pearson. He said that this was particularly because Ms Pearson projects herself as an authority on the Amerindian Act. “If one was an authority on such an Act, one would recognise immediately that holding elections or supervising elections under that Act regarding CDCs is an absolute no,” he said.  Williams said to complain that it is a violation of the people’s rights is really unacceptable. “It is unfortunate, because Ms Pearson was part of an operation that was unlawful in and of itself, and now to complain because that unlawful act, having been streamlined, now is something to be disappointed about, it is tragic,” he said.
Williams however said that he would forgive the newly elected Region 1 Chairman, Brentnol Ashley, for some of the remarks attributed to him in the article. “He is new, he is obviously unaware of all the situations that he needs to apprise himself of and so his statement would be forgivable,” he said.  Williams stated however that he is disappointed that the newly elected Regional Chairman chooses to label MP (APNU+AFC) Richard Allen as the person who protested against the holding of these elections. “That is not true, Mr. Allen simply passed information to the delegated returning officer, who is the AREO (Assistant Regional Executive Officer) at the time that he had this information regarding the election, that officer in turn related it to the REO,” he explained. He noted that, “there was never any attempt by Mr. Allen to stop anything, it was just that he was uncomfortable with it, it was simply a transmission of information,” he stated.
Moreover, the Advisor to the Minister noted that the whole issue of the CDCs could have been avoided. He explained that Four Miles and Falls Stop are communities that had applied for communal land title and village status under the Amerindian Act.
“We have been going through some documents here and we have seen that the applications for both Falls Stop and Four Miles have been really advanced. And in conversation today with Mr. Doregas, (Commissioner of Lands and Survey Commission,) he confirmed that in fact the land grant which was applied for by Four Miles has been approved, and he is going to send us  a copy of that document,” Williams said.
He noted that the document was finalied before the May 11 elections, and as such, the “former Minister Pauline Sukhai ought to have been advised by her then Advisor, Ms Yvonne Pearson that the issue of Four Miles is closed as far as land application is concern.”
Williams advised that the Indigenous Ministry will get this document from the Commission and the Minister will proceed with the next step; and as soon as all the elements required are satisfied, Four Miles will have an election for its leaders. “I do not see this being too far off; in fact I see this being concluded in a matter of weeks, ” he said
And with regard to Falls Stop, Williams said that there has been no objection that the Ministry has found. He advised that the demarcation exercise is being completed and the process is being moved forward. Williams said that he was a little bit disappointed that the ministry did not have the opportunity to discuss the article with Guyana Times prior to the publication. It was suggested that efforts were made to contact Minister Sydney Allicock but Tuesdays are Cabinet days, he pointed out.
As for the rest of the Toshaos’ and Village elections, Williams said that these are progressing relatively smoothly, according to reports. Yesterday was the last scheduled day for these elections. (GINA)