– allocation to expedite Amerindian Land Titling project welcomed

By Vishani Ragobeer

THE granting of land titles to Amerindian villages has been delayed for a number of years, but with the budgetary allocation of $630 million expected to expedite the process, Indigenous People are hopeful that they can finally have that “ownership feeling”.

“Since our government resumed office, we spent the last few months of 2020 preparing the groundwork for re-energising the Amerindian Land Titling programme to achieve its original target to title 68 villages,” Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh said, as he presented the 2021 National Budget on Friday last, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

Following this announcement, Executive Director of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), Jean La Rose, welcomed the renewed focus, highlighting that Indigenous Peoples have long been calling for the land titling and demarcation of their lands.

She lamented, however, that there were numerous issues with the limited land titling done in the past. According to her, there were issues in the demarcation of lands whereby some areas and community lands were left out. Additionally, she noted that titles were given to lands but mining concessions were approved on those lands.

The Amerindian Land Titling process was facilitated by the Amerindian Act of 2006 that provided for land titling and extensions. This led to the establishment of the Amerindian Land Titling project, which commenced in 2013 and ended in 2016 under the auspices of the Government of Guyana and the United Nations Development Fund.

The project had funding of $2.2 billion (US$10.7M) provided from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund. Subsequently, the project was extended from 2016 to 2018 and subsequently from 2019 to 2021. It was reported 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.

Now, with efforts being made to expedite the process, La Rose emphasised that there should be meaningful consultations with affected Indigenous Peoples to obtain their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) before granting concessions, leases or other land rights on any of the village’s traditional lands.

“My hope is that they (the government) involve all stakeholders including the APA,” she said.

La Rose also emphasised that there are costs attached to the demarcation of lands and the processes before issuance of the land titles and she wanted to understand how the government arrived at the $630 million figure.

Meanwhile, Deputy-Speaker of the National Assembly and Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, highlighted that he was also pleased with the efforts being made to expedite the Land Titling project, but he was unsure whether the allocated funds would suffice.

While speaking to the Guyana Chronicle after the presentation of the budget on Friday last, Shuman highlighted that this Land Titling project was one of the key issues raised by him, on behalf of Indigenous Peoples, during a meeting between the smaller political parties and President Dr Irfaan Ali.

Ahead of the presentation of the 2021 National Budget, several of the ‘smaller’ political parties, three of which have joined together and garnered a single seat in parliament, were consulted by President Ali. Present at that engagement were representatives from A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), the Citizenship Initiative (TCI), the New Movement (TNM), United Republican Party (URP) and Change Guyana.

The delayed Land Titling project has, reportedly, stymied the development of many Indigenous communities since there was an absence of land tenure security.

“It’s time that our Amerindian lands are titled so that we have that ownership feeling as a community, indicating that we own something and we would be able to be more independent,” a young leader in Aishalton, Region Nine, Manley Thomas, told the Guyana Chronicle.

This independence, he explained, would allow the communities to develop in a way that would enable them to garner revenues by growing their local economies. Furthermore, Thomas stressed that securing land titles would enable communities to plan for future generations.

In addition to the $630 million allocated specifically to expedite the Amerindian Land Titling project, Dr. Singh also highlighted that more than US$135 million (approximately GY$2.7B), already garnered through the Low-Carbon agreement with Norway, would be invested into renewable energy projects, strengthening agencies within the low-carbon development sector and to advance ongoing projects such as the Land Titling project.