By Mervyn Williams, M.P, Ministerial Adviser

IN recent times, the opposition and the Guyana Times newspaper have teamed up to sell their lie about the very important and sacred issue of Indigenous Peoples’ Land titling.

“Gov’t creating barriers to allocation of Indigenous lands – Yvonne Pearson” Guyana Times September 5, 2019 and “After heavy criticism gov’t buckles to pressure: approves titles, extensions for 8 Indigenous communities” Guyana Times September 7, 2019 are among articles which attempt to advance the wicked, mischievous argument that this APNU+AFC government takes lightly this most sacred matter of Indigenous Peoples’ land rights.

In the process of advancing this most disingenuous position, the PPP is guilty of the grave sin of trivialising a very sacred, deep and far-reaching national and universal issue which touches the very soul of every Indigenous Person – land rights. The citizens of this country must call upon the PPP to account for its stewardship specific to the Indigenous Land issue.

The presidential candidate of that party must tell the people of Guyana why his party blatantly violated the Indigenous Peoples’ land rights and their right to Free Prior and Informed Consent in the establishment of:
1. The Shell Beach Protected Area
2. The Kaieteur National Park Protected Area
3. The Kanuku Mountains Protected Area
4. Chinese Landing
Santa Rosa was duped into believing that the PPP government of yesteryear would first determine its application for extension to its titled lands before establishing the Shell Beach Protected Area. Alas! The PPP passed legislation for the establishment of the Shell Beach Protected Area totally disregarding Santa Rosa’s extension application. Before the people of Santa Rosa knew what had happened, the lands applied for (as extension) were all swallowed up by Shell Beach. The Protected area even took in the homes of some of the citizens who always knew that they were living on traditional lands.

The people of Chinapau were made to believe that their land extension application would be determined in a manner favourable to the entire village. Sadly, however, the opposite is true. Chinapau believed that their extended boundary would fall inside of the protected area and that they would continue to enjoy the full traditional use and occupation of those lands even after Protected Area status came.

They were made to believe that they would be joined in the management of the Protected Area to the benefit of their Village and in the best interest of its people. Kaieteur National Park was established and the Village of Chinapau has lost the lands for which they had applied as extension to their Village lands. Those lands were traditionally used and occupied by the Indigenous Peoples for centuries and they have proven this as a fact.

The Kanuku Mountains Protected Area, just like the Kaieteur National Park, shuts out Nappi, Sand Creek, Yupakari and several other Indigenous Villages from having access to lands for extension to their existing village lands. This is even though they were told by the PPP that their extended boundaries will fall inside the protected area and that nothing will interfere with their traditional occupation and use of the lands. Like in the case of the other two protected areas, the villages are locked out of those areas by legislation.

Their extension applications have never been determined by a heartless, sick PPP government.
Kangaruma and Tasserene in 2012 were handed pieces of paper by PPP Prime Minister Hinds at a grand event in the full glare of the cameras. Immediately after the cameras stopped flashing their papers were taken back. These were papers purported to be land titles. They had all the features of a land title except that they were NOT SIGNED. The PPP never intended to give those Villages legal ownership over those lands. Was it because they wanted to issue over one hundred gold mining blocks on those same lands? Many in the Villages of Kangaruma and Tasserene believe it was.

CHINESE LANDING:
Chinese Landing (Tasiwini) was titled in 1976 by Prime Minister Forbes Burnham. Some 19 years later the PPP issued gold mining claims to a miner for lands within the titled Village lands. There was no Free Prior and Informed Consent then. There was no consultative engagement involving village and government. Back then PPP Prime Minister, Hinds, was responsible for mining and the late Vibert De Souza was minister of Amerindian Affairs.
The matter of mining rights later engaged the attention of the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Georgetown and the Caribbean Court of Justice in Trinidad. At no point in any of these proceedings did the PPP government indicate to the Village that their titled village lands were the subject of court proceedings. They presented no opportunity or advice to the village to have themselves as a ‘Body Corporate” and land owner joined in any of those proceedings to assert their right to their lands. The village today continues to be uncertain, even as they endure difficult times thanks entirely to the ruthless PPP.

POLICY OF CONFUSION FOR POLITICAL GAIN
The PPP Indigenous Peoples’ land policy has, at its core, the element of confusion for political gain. The Amerindian Land Titling Project was being implemented in a manner which has resulted in the disaffection and alienation of our Indigenous Peoples.
The transition from absolute grants to certificates of title has survey and demarcation as two prerequisites. In the survey process, villages were TOLD what their boundaries were.

They held understandings which were different to what they were told. Their understanding was always rooted in their interpretation of the description contained in their absolute grant documents. Those in turn were rooted in their ancestral understanding of what their traditional lands were and that was communicated to the 1969 Lands Commission and included in their grant document.

The ALT (under the PPP) went ahead anyway with the incorrect boundary markings and insisted that after the Certificates of Title were granted, villages can apply for extensions. So the PPP engineered a way to generate more extension applications to provide them with a stage upon which to grand stand on the Indigenous land issue. This is a most disrespectful and unforgivable position to take. This is the basis upon which they designed and implemented the Amerindian Land Titling Project.

The David Granger Administration temporarily halted the project, reviewed the manner in which it was managed by the PPP and is moving forward with ensuring that the goals of the project are achieved within the framework of the law, respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, reasonableness and with a grievance redress mechanism (GRM) for addressing disagreements. This GRM involves the full participation of all stake holders – Indigenous Peoples’, Indigenous NGO’s, rights commissions and State agencies included.

The Indigenous Peoples of Guyana and indeed all Guyanese must judge the PPP on their dismal, failed record, the above being but a sample as it relates to the Indigenous Land issue.