– says Amerindian Affairs Minister in defence of budget

– opposition MP acknowledges gov’t support to Indigenous Peoples in education sector

THE legal rights of Indigenous Peoples have been given priority by the Government of Guyana, according to Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai.

Sukhai, during her contribution to the budget debates on Wednesday in the National Assembly being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, passionately defended the funds budgeted to support Indigenous Peoples and their communities.

Highlighting the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) Project, Sukhai said that the $800 million that has been budgeted for this project guarantees legal protection of Amerindian-owned lands, which she said was stagnant during the opposition’s tenure.

“The APNU+AFC had no intention to advance land titling for Amerindians…It was under the PPP/C Government that the percentage of land owned privately by Amerindians increased from 6 per cent to 16 per cent. The ALT project will go down in the history of this house and in the records. It will show that the majority of lands titled to indigenous people were all done under the PPP/C Government.”

According to Sukhai, over the last two years, 20 investigations were conducted and in less than two years, seven extensions were awarded, while eight land demarcations were conducted.

Aside from this, over 800 village-led projects are currently being implemented in over 200 Amerindian, hinterland, rural, and riverine communities across Guyana.

This is being funded through the country’s first carbon credit sale and agreement with Hess Corporation where a minimum of US$750 million will be generated over the coming decade.

Sukhai disclosed that some 232 village councils and community development councils have already withdrawn their funds, totaling $3.8 billion.

Meanwhile, opposition Member of Parliament, Dawn Hastings-Williams, said in her presentation to the national assembly that she believes more needs to be done to support the indigenous communities; however, she acknowledges several initiatives being done to enhance the lives of persons in hinterland communities through enhance training in the education sector.

“I can also recall approaching the Minister of Education, whom I have great respect for, Priya Manickchand about the teachers who were enrolled to do online courses but were unable to do so in my region and specifically in upper Mazaruni. I am much appreciative that she came up with something and that is to bring them out to Georgetown to attend classes at CPCE,” Hastings said.

Notably, the government has been working to improve access to education in hinterland communities, and as a part of these investment were made to further support the Cyril Potter College of Education’s (CPCE), where some 1,796 educators recently graduated. Among the large contingent, several teachers from hinterland regions received their certificates and accreditation to further advance their careers.