THE Guyana Reparations Committee (GRC) is proposing what it terms “African Ancestral Rights Bill” to protect and recognise the rights of Afro-Guyanese.

The body is claiming 15,000 square miles of the country, a figure which its representative Eric Phillips told the land Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Thursday, matches 18 per cent of the country’s landmass.

Phillips said the body is seeking justice from the State of Guyana, and according to him, as a member of a CARICOM reparations group; reparations are being sought from the British and Dutch.

He said in the proposed bill, there would be financial architecture to allow the 15,000 square miles to be properly developed, since according to him, the precedence has already been set as he made reference to the 2006 Amerindian Act.

He said reparations have two components: the physical and financial, as well as the psychological.

Phillips said the reason the group is asking for land is, “that land is wealth, land is also a method of generational transfer of wealth”. He said it is the only secure and irrevocable method of generational wealth creation.

He informed the commission that in 2000, a study was done, and an area of 16,000 square miles of unoccupied land, which qualifies as State land was found and is being sought by the GRC.

Phillips told the commission that in the 2006 Amerindian Act, the indigenous people were given an Amerindian Development Fund to develop lands which the group possesses.

“For example, there are 300 Wai Wais with a million acres of land at the bottom of Guyana, I do not know how they can beneficially occupy that,” he said.

He called for the Amerindian Act to be modified, noting that as an indigenous village population doubles, it can split and after 25 years, claim lands.

He called this aspect of the Act a “fundamental breach” of the Constitution.

Under questioning from the commission, he said “correct history “would show that Amerindians and Africans were “harmed”.

He said the latter were in Guyana before the Europeans, who came and seized the country and took away lands which belonged to them. He said that this should be the basis for establishing indigenous lands.

In terms of establishing ancestral lands, he asked whether Africans were impaired. He said that not only were there vast denials of human rights, but also crime against humanity in which lives were lost.

Commissioner Berlinda Persaud informed Phillips that there are 19 per cent of mixed Guyanese, according to the 2002 census and she questioned whether that group of persons should be considered for reparations.

He informed the commission that the village councils under the Amerindian Act have control of village lands and he noted that the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) has received many complaints from Afro-Guyanese, who are mixed with Amerindian but have no rights to the village lands.

He said the mixed population is the fastest growing, noting that many are of African/Amerindian mixture, as well as of East Indian/African descent.

As the morning session stretched past the midday hour, Phillips grew hot-tempered during questioning by Commissioner David James as the latter questioned the information Phillips provided during his presentation to the commission.

James questioned whether there was indeed no indigenous genocide in Guyana and Phillips stood by his claims that there were none.

Phillips mentioned to the commission that the indigenous population in Guyana is against reparations for Afro-Guyanese because the former wants an additional 10 per cent of the country’s landmass. James questioned whether he stood by the claim.

Phillips then stated that the indigenous groups at the National Toshaos Conference this week have supported the reparations claims of African Guyanese. He said however, that the indigenous people “see it as competition for land” and according to him, Amerindians have extended their claims for 24 per cent of the country’s landmass.

James questioned whether Philips was familiar with the 1969 Amerindian Lands Commission, which he noted, made certain recommendations among which related to titling of indigenous lands.

The commissioner said that the question of the 24 per cent was included at the time, but Phillips noted that at the time the indigenous groups were asking for 50 per cent of the country’s landmass, but the latter figure was negotiated.

Phillips got heated during the questioning by James, when the former asked for proof of occupation of lands across the western hemisphere, which Phillips claimed were occupied by the descendants of Africans. Phillips then forwarded questions of his own to the commissioner at this point.

Attorney for the CoI, Darren Wade, interrupted at this point and told the witness that he is not allowed to ask the commissioner questions. An upset Phillips said he thought the CoI was for a free flow of ideas and information, noting that he was asking the commissioner questions about history.

He suggested that James was making assertions even as he disrupted the commissioner during his questioning. The CoI public hearings continue on Monday morning.