-10 communities receive land titles, extensions at NTC meeting
WHILE addressing the Toshaos at the National Toshaos conference on Monday, at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, President Bharat Jagdeo pointed out that Amerindian communities are the largest private land owners, made possible as a result of the Administration working along with the communities to set out in the law a process that ensures that all land claims are dealt with by the law.
The Head of State presented land titles and extensions to 10 Amerindian communities on Monday. These included Arukamai, Annai, Apoteri, Shulinab, Whitewater and Toka,
President Jagdeo indicated that this is “not being dependent on the discretion of the government whether they want to listen to you or not, but the government today is obligated; once there is a request we have to process the request in a timely fashion.”
However, there were challenges in securing funding to do the land demarcation.
President Jagdeo stated that of the monies garnered from the Low Carbon Development Strategy payment from Norway, about $800M will be used to accelerate the demarcation process and aid completion of the exercise.
President Jagdeo noted that “the problem is two-fold, we don’t have enough surveyors and it is very costly. It could cost us as much as $40M per single community.”
Additionally, in accelerating the demarcation process, through a public tender, “we will be able to extend titles or complete the transaction for those communities that have been waiting for a while,” President Jagdeo said.
President Jagdeo, in alluding to the abuses the PPP/C Administration was subjected to before assuming office, said, “In the early days, when groups of people went around in the indigenous communities and said we are going to steal your land and we don’t believe in God and we’re atheists and we shouldn’t be supported…you have worked with us.. I look around here and I see the Toshaos, most of you I know,” President Jagdeo said.
President Jagdeo added, “We have not taken away anyone’s land, we’ve not taken away your right of worship, we have in fact been doing otherwise, enhancing people’s rights through the Amerindian Act.”
Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai stated that with great conviction, the need for cleansing and eradication of suspicions with respect to the Amerindian land rights and ownership should be recognised.
Additionally, Toshaos must seriously undertake to address the benefits to be derived from demarcation of village lands which is a legislative activity supported and funded by Government.
Since assuming office in 1992, Government has placed the resolution of Amerindian land issues as a priority project. The first meeting with Toshaos of various communities was first held at Paramakatoi in Region Eight, where the issue was discussed.
This resulted in the formulation of a policy to have all of the 74 titled Amerindian communities surveyed and demarcated, a process that began in 1995.