THIS past week the National Toshaos Council (NTC) held their 12th Annual NTC Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. A new governing body was elected and as per the norm, the grievances of the Indigenous Peoples were highlighted so that they may be addressed.

It would have been hard to miss the issues raised at the conference because they were well reported upon. If you did, however, of great importance to the Indigenous Peoples are the matters of land and demarcation and the use of the environment.
The newly-elected chairman of the NTC, Nicholas Fredericks, during his presentation singled out the importance of land rights and preservation to the Indigenous Peoples. “The land is one of the most important assets we have in our lives,” he said.

Historically, the first peoples moved into the hinterland regions where they established their occupancy over time. To date, much of their culture and livelihoods are tied to the hinterland regions. And so it is clear why there is the pervasive impetus for their land rights.

The Amerindian Land Titling Project was created to address their grievances and provide redress to the people. Earlier this year, however, Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock, sadly informed that only 26 per cent of the work under the Amerindian Land Titling Project was complete, even though the project is slated to conclude in October of 2018. Understandably, this was not good news for Guyana’s first peoples and the matter of land titling was high on the conference’s agenda.
I have a fair amount of knowledge on bureaucracy and the long processes of getting things to happen. As such, I understand why it takes so long to get stuff done, especially when it is this important. From what I’ve read, communities have not been able to acquire titles for their lands because progress vis a vis the land titling project has been decelerated due to a myriad of constraints, most notably- manpower.

At the same time, I also understand people’s frustration when they have been lobbying for something they believe belongs to them for so long to no apparent avail. Fredericks in his presentation also highlighted that land titles were granted since 1976 by the then government, and related, “They were not given out with free, prior and informed consent. These titles were not presented to a village meeting. The Toshaos at that time made huge mistakes in accepting those titles”.

What happens too, is that with these boundary issues, economic activity is hindered and villages may find it difficult to engage in their livelihoods. Orealla, for example, has had trouble engaging in logging activities because of issues with their boundaries.

Manager of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) secretariat, Durwin Humphrey, shared with the Toshaos from across the country during the conference, that there are many issues surrounding lands here while adding that the existing issues are not new but have existed for decades.

For him, many legal and procedural challenges and flaws are preventing the commission from effectively conducting its land titling exercises. He also noted that there is some friction between the Amerindian Act of 2006 and the State Lands Act, with respect to ownership and occupancy of lands.

So what is being corrected now, or at least attempted to be corrected, is providing the people with titles to the land they occupy and in some cases, demarcate and effectively extend their control of the areas.

But even as this bugbear prevails, there is still much to appreciate. One standout presentation for me was one made by the Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Valerie Garrido- Lowe.

She detailed the progress made over the recent years with respect to bridging the divide that exists between the coastal and hinterland areas. Chief among these were, the establishment of five radio stations in Mabaruma, Mahdia, Orealla, Lethem and Aishalton; the provision of 566 Government scholarships; 1332 assisted small businesses; $200M in heritage grants; $93M towards preserving indigenous heritage and $10M each for the resuscitation of the coffee industry in Santa Rosa, the cassava flour business in Quibana and jewelry and craft businesses at Monkey Mountain.

What I will contend at this juncture is that progress is being made. It is my humble opinion that though there are great issues with land demarcation and titling, and even other issues, there is something to appreciate. And what I am most happy about is that the indigenous leaders from across the country came together and directed their collective efforts towards championing their cause.