-position contradicts that of Chairman

THE North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) – a local non-government organization (NGO) – is claiming that contrary to what has been said in the press, it never took a position on the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) into lands.
The Board reminded Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock of this in a letter on June 8, 2017; the letter was signed by NRDDB Secretary, Suresh Andries.
In the letter, the NGO stated that: “…the NRDDB has not made any public claims of support for either body [the Ministry or National Toshao’s Council (NTC)]”. The letter added that the body was concerned about what was being said on social media and in the press and felt this is not the best approach to resolve the land issue.
In 2015, President David Granger announced that a COI would be established to address issues related to ancestral land rights. However, this has not found favour with the NTC which asked that the decision be rescinded in the interest of the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana.
The NTC had said that it “categorically condemns the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry as a mechanism to guide the process to addressing the lands issues as it relates to the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana. Guyana’s First Peoples, as a core group of people with a very unique status in Guyana, and having lived on this land for time immemorial, view it as an aberration that needs to be recalled and have established two separate entities to deal with the issues currently placed under such a blanket.”
Subsequently, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs announced that the NRDDB had supported the COI and that the NTC had been misleading residents of indigenous villages before fully comprehending the terms of reference in the COI.
Although NRDDB is claiming it never supported any side in the issue, last month, its Chairman, Anthony Andries said that the COI was long overdue. Those statements had been reported in a Kaieteur News article which appeared in its May 25 edition, under the headline “North Rupununi throws full support behind COI on Indigenous Land”.
Anthony reportedly said that he is convinced that the NTC Executive was blatantly refusing to deal with the facts or that they were using the issue as a political strategy.
“For me it is either of the two because if they didn’t tell us well this is their stand and this is the other part of the story. But they didn’t do that. I also think that they have withheld key information from us. They didn’t share the ALT part,” Andries reportedly told Kaieteur News.
That publication further went on to state that in welcoming the establishment of the COI, the chairperson said that it was long overdue.
“I’m calling on the NRDDB to prepare a letter and send it to the Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and to the President, letting them know that we as Toshaos in the North Rupununi are pleased with the setting up of the COI and that we are ready to work,” Kaieteur News quoted Andries as saying.