…ministerial adviser, Mervyn Williams scotches opposition ‘do little’ claims

–says ‘coalition’ done more for Indigenous People than PPP did in 23 years

By Gabriella Chapman

THE notion that the APNU/AFC government has done little for the Indigenous Peoples is one that is being amplified at most of the Opposition’s rallies across the country.

However, Adviser to the Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Mervyn Williams is adamant that such a statement is erroneous and ought to be publicly corrected.
Williams explained to the Guyana Chronicle that there is an Amerindian Act in Guyana’s Constitution that allows for Indigenous Peoples to apply for and claim legal ownership of lands for cultural and other developmental purposes.

He said that according to the statistics, the total land area of Guyana that is, to date, titled to Indigenous Peoples is 15,552 square miles, which amounts to 18.8% of Guyana’s landmass. Williams noted further that under the combined presidency of Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte, a total of 9,915 squares miles were titled, amounting to 11.9% of the above stated 18.8 percentage at reference.

“Let me break down the ‘maths’ even further. Under President Granger, from since he took office to date, he titled 3,000 square miles, which is 3.5%,” Williams said. “That means that for 23 years, under the presidency of five different presidents, the PPP has only titled 2,829 square miles, 3.4%,” he added.

He went on to say that in all those 23 years under the governance of the PPP, all that was issued to the Indigenous Peoples were land title certificates. He further disclosed that because many of those Land Title Certificates were not authentic, those lands were taken back from the people by PPP officials.

**He specifically pointed out two villages in Region Seven, the mining communities of Tasserene and Kangaruma in the Lower Mazaruni, who fought for their land tenure status. The residents were waiting several years for the authenticated documents, and it wasn’t until the APNU/AFC government was made aware of the situation that they had it rectified and the titles were issued.

In the latter part of 2019, at the 13th annual National Toshaos Council (NTC) conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) in the presence of Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo; Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock; Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe and Minister of State, Dawn-Hastings Williams, Kangaruma and Tasserene, Region Seven; Yupukari, Region Nine and St. Monica and Mainstay/Whyaka, Region Two received their certificates of titles for their lands.
Prior to that, eight Indigenous communities in Regions Two, Seven, Nine and 10 received titles to their lands and were granted extensions. The grants approved are extensions to existing communities in Mainstay/Whyaka, Mashabo and Capoey, Essequibo Coast, Region Two.

There was also the establishment of legal boundaries in Parabara, Region Nine; Rockstone, Region 10 and Tasserene and Kangaruma, Region Seven.
These communities have been waiting years for their grants of titles to move forward with the development of their villages. The tourism-driven communities of Mainstay/Whyaka and Capoey applied for their extension in 2011-2012 and 2014 respectively, and only got same in 2019.

The Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) process was facilitated by the Amerindian Act of 2006 that provided for land titling and extensions. This led to the establishment of the ALT project which was scheduled to commence in 2013 and end in 2016; under the auspices of the Government of Guyana and the United Nations Development Fund, with funding of $2.2Billion (US$10.7M) provided from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund. The project was extended from 2016 to 2018 and subsequently from 2019 to 2021.

The Director-General, Joseph Harmon had explained at a Post Cabinet briefing late last year, that of the 68 interventions identified, 21 demarcations have been completed and 18 certificates of titles issued, while 45 investigations were completed – 32 for extensions and 13 for new villages.

Harmon said that in approving the granting of titles, the government reiterates its commitment to the completion of the land titling project and assures that the process will continue until all Indigenous communities receive their titles in accordance with the law.

The ALT project seeks to achieve three primary goals: completion of land title issues and demarcation process for all Indigenous villages that submitted requests; increased use of existing and alternative mechanisms to resolve land titling disputes and thirdly, a communication strategy including a handbook describing the process of titling, demarcation and socio-economic impact of secured land tenure.