–Allicock urges 4 Miles residents

Story and photos by Leroy Smith
MINISTER of Indigenous People’s Affairs Sydney Allicock on Thursday urged residents of 4 Miles community, just outside central Port Kaituma, to come together to develop a community project, amid discussions over the issue of a communal land title.

Minister Allicock and a team travelled to the North West District community and held discussions with the residents, along with representatives of the regional administration.
Some residents expressed concerns over what they called a “breach of the Amerindian Act” by the previous PPP government in recognising the 4 Miles area as an Amerindian Reservation although the area did not meet all the requirements.
They now want President David Granger to reverse the decision and the issuance of a document that was signed by former President Donald Ramotar since they are claiming they were duped into signing a paper that gave communal title to the land.
The area is populated by both indigenous people and persons of African ancestry.
There is at present controversy within the community over the document as some residents reportedly requested that they be issued with individual land titles while others wanted communal land title for the area.

The residents were, however, told that the decision by the previous government was binding on the new administration. In the meantime, some residents are of the view that the issue can be resolved through a petition to the executive while others point to an option of moving to the courts.

DEVELOP THE LAND
During his presentation to the residents, the Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs called on the residents to work together. He said the land in its present form should be a plus for the community as it remains with them and they have the opportunity to develop it to its fullest.
The minister also urged the residents to be reasonable and rather than argue over a decision which is irreversible at this time, they ought to look at ways to develop the community for the benefit of everyone.
During the meeting some residents who considered themselves “concerned residents” were arguing that individual land titles is what the community had preferred rather that the communal title.

However, another set of residents said that they preferred the communal lands and pointed out that those who were seeking individual land titles were interested in reselling the land at a later date.
There were also claims that among those who are seeking individual land titles, are persons who may have sold lands already and now that a communal title has been issued, they cannot deliver and must now find monies to reimburse those persons who may have made an advance payment or even paid in full.
Meanwhile, one of the contentions at 4 Miles is that some persons who do not consider themselves Amerindians or indigenous persons feel that they are being forced off the land and indigenous persons are getting the preference.
But according to the Amerindian Act, once persons are descendants of an Amerindian person, they are to be considered as indigenous even if their physical appearance does not readily indicate this.

$5M FOR COMMUNITY PROJECT
Moving forward, Allicock urged residents to engage their regional officials in preparing for village elections to elect the best group of persons to manage their affairs. He also called on them to come together as a community and identify a project that they would like to see take off and be commissioned in the new year as part of the 50th anniversary as the government is setting aside $5M for such a project.
He also advised the young people to take steps to become employable and to be willing to be engaged in the skills training initiative which will soon be available to the community of Port Kaituma.