I READ a Demerara Waves piece this week on the Toshaos Council calling for the scrapping of the commission to deal with land issues, even threatening to vote against the coalition in the upcoming 2020 elections. Well so be it.
The commission was established to deal with land issues in general, but to my surprise I read that the council thinks this would further incite racial fears and anxieties, rather than heal as the commission is mandated to do.
I therefore urge Government to stand firm and not be blackmailed or back away from the original intent of the commission as it has done with Guysuco and a string of other issues, in which it had the high ground. Land issues are like an albatross hanging around the necks of Guyanese. The fact that this Government has seen it fit to attempt to address this issue once and for all not only shows political fortitude, but wisdom and foresight of a kind which had eluded previous administrations, some quite conveniently and perhaps deliberately.
The time for piece-meal approaches has long passed, so I therefore urge authorities to proceed as planned as every single group in this country would have a chance to have their say in a public, open and transparent process. This is not a situation where parcels of lands are being handed out secretly. This commission would hold public hearings, examine the history of land dating back to the first peoples, slavery, indentureship, the colonial era in general and the decades coming forward.
I therefore submit that the work of the commission should proceed and groups which fear its mission, should simply organise themselves to make representation as the opportunity is open to all.
Regards
Peter Joseph