AMERINDIAN People’s Association (APA) Geographic System Information (GIS) Specialist and Forest Policy Officer, Michael McGarrell, said if villagers are trained to map their villages many of the challenges encountered in the demarcation process under the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) Project, would be erased.

With funds from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) under the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, the Amerindian Land Titling Project was launched in October 2013 to fast track the Amerindian Land Titling process in Guyana within a three-year time frame, but come October, 2018, another extension will be sought.

Within the three-year time frame, the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, now known as the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, was expected to issue land titles and complete the demarcation process for all Amerindian villages that submitted requests, including those that requested extensions; strengthen existing mechanisms to deal with unresolved land issues; and improve the communication and outreach efforts. However, the ministry was unable to meet the October 2015 deadline.

It was in 2015, prior to the May 11 General and Regional Elections, that an Amerindian Village was last issued a land title, and though the title which was issued to Karisparu was done under the Amerindian Land Titling Project, today there exist major demarcation issues between Karisparu and its neighbor, Chenapau.

McGarrell, in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, explained that though the Amerindian Land Titling Project is expected to be executed in accordance with the principles of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), when Karisparu was demarcated, the department spearheading the project did so without consulting the neighbouring village.
“There is so [much] red tape in terms of dealing with the land issues…The issue of Chenapau and Karisparu for example…Karisparu was demarcated, but there was no consultation with Chenapau,” McGarrell pointed out. Now, according to him, half of Chenapau’s population lives in Karisparu-titled land.

“So this has caused a lot of problems with communities as well, because now I am living on your titled land but I am from Chenapau,” he further posited.

McGarrell said to prevent similar occurrences in the future, the Amerindian Land Titling Department should follow the guidelines closely, and in doing do consult with villages before proceeding with the demarcation of lands.

He is also of the belief that villagers should be trained to aid in the process, contending that errors made by surveyors from the city, have resulted in further disputes.

“One of the issues and problems with the Land Titling Project is that it requires certified land surveyors to do the surveying, but the issue with that is that many times surveyors from Georgetown when they go, they don’t want to walk through that swamp, they don’t want to walk over that mountain, it is too much. So what do we do, okay let’s mark a spot here and then we are going to mark another spot, then we draw a straight line, cutting out peoples’ land,” McGarrell opined.

He emphasised that if villagers are trained to map their villages, then the project would be executed at a faster rate and with more precision.

Chairman of the National Toshaos Council, Joel Fredericks, in commenting on the Amerindian Land Titling Project said millions of dollars are being utilised, but little progress is being seen under the project.

Only 26 percent of the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) Project has been achieved to date, with US$2.5M or 25 percent of the US$10.7M budgeted for the project expended.
“We are not pleased,” Fredericks told this newspaper, while questioning the use of the financial resources when little progress is being seen. On visits to villages, Fredericks said the NTC is oftentimes questioned about the process of demarcation.
Vice-President and Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock, has assured the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources that by October 2018, four villages will be completely demarcated.

Minister Allicock had explained to reporters that the issue of political division was among challenges hindering smooth execution of the project.

“There was political divide in our communities which I have never seen. It was never something I would have expected across the country, but it was very, very divided, and that was a big hindrance to us moving forward,” Minister Allicock had explained.
He noted that some villages were and in some cases uneasy, due to the manner in which they were treated in the past.

“We had to say to them that this is your community, you need to understand that we need to have village improvement plans which will allow you to understand your entire boundary, your entire resources and it would be better for your planning,” the Indigenous Affairs Minister said. He noted that it is important to get the buy-in from villagers, based on the fact that the majority of the adult population in Amerindian villages across the country have requested that the project be done based on the principles of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).