THERE was never a doubt as to the vision that President David Granger and his coalition administration–the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change– envisaged for the Indigenous communities.

For not only did his intensive campaign as parliamentary opposition leader took him through the length and breadth of hinterland communities; it also brought him face to face with the harsh realities of daily life which were the lot of Indigenous peoples.
In reality, and despite the political rhetoric of past People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) governments, of spending billions for hinterland development, those communities and their citizens were still at a level of traditional existence, with not much opportunities for sustained growth and development that would elevate them from a position of primitive subsistence to an acceptable platform of self-sufficiency and socio-economic viability.
Any examination of the Coalition’s Ten-Point Hinterland Development Programme will clearly appreciate that it is one strategically designed for empowerment of hinterland communities – such as the dried tomato and turmeric dye projects, that have offered both direct employment and self-employment opportunities, among other initiatives; and the important aspect of building human capacity, as evidenced through the Hinterland Education Youth Services (HEYS) component of the Ten Point Plan.

This platform points to the larger concept and vision of hinterland communities being removed from the primitive backwaters which it has experienced for all of its historical experience, bringing it into the mainstream of modern socio-economic life.
It is against this background that President Granger’s address to the 12th National Toshaos Conference (NTC) must be seen as groundbreaking, for what it has underlined as the fundamental requirements which hinterland communities must engage if they are to improve their current way of life, for both communities and citizens, especially.
The President’s speech, in effect, reminded Indigenous leaders that they must begin to use the authority that are derived from the NTC and Amerindian Act, empowering them “to take the lead in developing Village Improvement Plans (VIPs) aimed at ensuring more sustainable and secure livelihoods, boosting human wellbeing, creating increased opportunities and reducing the inequalities between the coastland and hinterland communities”. Importantly, was his reference to an enduring theme of his vision for the creation of Capital Towns, “Plans for the delivery of public services, particularly those related to education, economic services, energy, water, human health and the environment”. The president emphasized the “creation of employment opportunities, building of environmental resilience” among other essentials for the development of hinterland communities.

For those critics and naysayers who may interpret the President’s address as abandoning his and government’s obligation to a section of our nation that has had its share of neglect, such views/opinions would be misguided, blinkered, and unfortunate, as well as missing the larger picture of the message to Indigenous leaders.

This has to do with an understanding of Indigenous leaders being invited, at last, to play their role in the socio-economic growth and development of their respective regions and communities, and by extension, the nation.

The clear and unambiguous message is for them to accept the inalienable right and responsibility of collective participation for the betterment of their communities and lives of their citizens; and the opportunity to remove their locales from political manipulation for selfish ends. It is also about the right to determine what is good for their regions and communities, in conjunction with their fellow citizens.

We have always contended that it was inconceivable that so vast a geographic space as the hinterland to continuously be treated in a manner that perceived its inhabitants and communities as not worthy of being able to make proper and informed decisions for themselves and communities, in creative and imaginative ways, as has been the experience during the former PPP/C’s period of governance. For if, as is so evident, that there are Indigenous peoples serving in professional capacities in many spheres of daily endeavours, then why such an ability cannot be transferred to the task of the transformation of their particular regions and communities, and thus reducing the inequalities that do exist between the coastal and hinterland halves.

Great is the potential for hinterland development; should this challenge from President Granger be accepted, it would see an astonishingly new level of socio-economic development taking root and rising from a section of Guyana’s land space that is awash with enormous possibilities for modern development. The transformative gains for communities and residents would be enormous.

Therefore, the President’s message is most timely, since it is made at what is definitely the most exciting and anticipatory periods of the nation’s economic development history – the coming of first oil. Surely, the Indigenous regions and their communities must also be ready and prepared to be part of, and benefit from, the expected windfall of development gains, as other regions of Guyana. But they must ready their regions.