– it’s home to some people, Min. Allicock says of the hinterland

MINISTER of Indigenous Peoples Affairs Sydney Allicock on Friday said that many hinterland communities are in the state they are in, because of a misconception that they are of no account.

He made this telling observation during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, where he was asked what was being done about the many challenges facing the nation’s First Peoples.

And his response was: “One of the biggest issues we have is people coming to the hinterland to explore and exploit the land; people who just go about treating the areas like the ‘backdam’ as against the home to a group of people.
“You would often hear them saying they are going into the ‘backdam’. So, once they arrive here, they treat it just like that! A ‘backdam’!”
But worrisome though this trend is, he feels there is still hope, with proper education on how one should treat with Mother Nature and ecosystems, particularly those in the hinterland.

“We have to remember that the Indigenous Peoples have been here all the while and they never created the issues we are now having,” Minister Allicock said, adding:
“It is the people who come to exploit who are the ones that bring about the issues being faced in the hinterland communities, which includes but are not limited to murders, destruction and pollution.”

Expanding a bit on the subject, Minister Allicock said that not only has exploitation bred greed amongst his people, but substance abuse as well and even social ills like suicide, something that was previously unheard of in the hinterland.

His contention is that those persons involved in mining do not take it upon themselves to do it on their own; that they have to seek and be given permission and license to do so.
And therein lies the problem, he said, as one of the biggest bones of contention is the failure of the relevant authorities when surveying lands earmarked for mining and exploitation to give due consideration to the Indigenous Peoples domiciled there.

But thankfully, efforts are underway to resolve the problem, which he believes will see the decrease in the escalation of uncontrolled mining.
A number of agencies and ministries, the minister said, have already been engaged in this regard, and at the moment, the government is looking into some concerns which were raised by residents in the Upper Mazaruni community of Phillipai.
Those issues, he said, have to do with, among other things, new lands in the area which are being explored for exploitation, and were raised with the President by way of a letter.

Those and other concerns have prompted a series of discussions among officials of the the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), and the Ministries of Indigenous Peoples Affairs and Natural Resources, Minister Allicock said.

He said, too, that a meeting is being scheduled with the community with the potential exploiters, whereby the community and the representatives from various agencies would be meeting to determine the way forward with respect to how the operations might be able to be carried out with little or no discomfort to the nation’s First Peoples.

Minister Allicock said that these moves are all geared to ensure that there is common ground in moving forward on both sides.