Dear Editor,

I READ with joy and expectancy the news which was captioned, “Region Seven Indigenous residents receive firearms.” I say ‘with joy’ because Indigenous peoples throughout the hinterland of Guyana are in dire need of maintaining their livelihoods and this is a very good gesture. I say “with expectancy” because I am quite confident this government does not discriminate. I say with expectancy because implicit in that very news headline that the government will be handing out shotguns to Indigenous persons of other administrative regions; and a handout of shotguns is hopefully not for Region Seven and Region Seven alone. There are others, too, who have complied with the amnesty and, even prior to the amnesty, to other conditions as well. Mr. Editor, please allow me to record my own experience as an Indigenous person.

As a result of my father’s death 18 years ago, I was asked to surrender a shotgun through the Charity police.

The shotgun A2454A was surrendered as instructed by police since, they informed me, I was only a joint holder and the sole owner was my deceased father. My father died in 2000 and so far I have been unable to retrieve the firearm.
Subsequent applications (I can’t remember how many) in an effort to retrieve the firearm failed. All requisite certificates and/ or letters from my siblings, etc. etc., saying they are all in agreement for me to become the new owner have all been submitted, but to no avail.
A visit to Eve Leary afforded me the opportunity to speak with one Sgt. Blair of the Firearms Section. He did inform me that the firearm was unserviceable.
Editor, my next move was to apply for a new shotgun altogether, but so far it has yielded nothing.

Sir, after a change in government, a past permanent secretary of the Indigenous Affairs Ministry (I know Mr. Vibert Welch) visited my community. He requested of me the duplicates of all my applications, letters of acknowledgement, character references, etc., as he had faithfully promised to ‘work on them.’

Several calls later to his office went unanswered and today I’m no better off. Editor, it is my hope that with the publication of my letter the relevant authorities would use their kind offices to render some assistance, so that the firearm I surrendered years and years ago could be returned to me. I still live with expectancy!
With thanks.

Yours truly,
Fr. Joseph C. Atkinson