APA stages protest at National Toshaos Conference

Protestors at the entrance of the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC).

Members of the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) on Wednesday staged a protest at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) at Liliendaal. That is the venue hosting the Seventh meeting of the National Toshaos Council. The group appeared twice at the conference yesterday, voicing members’ concerns about the titling of land, and their fears that their Toshaos will be swindled by the government and that they will not discuss the issues at hand. The five-day session which kicked off on Monday is being held under the theme, “Culture of Good Governance for Sustained Village Economies.” The first day saw the signing of a US$10.7 Million contract between the government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The money is designated for titling and demarcation of Amerindian lands. This annual meeting is considered the most important and of the highest order of the Amerindian meetings as it is here that the issues which are of concern to them, are laid before the President and several ministers. Among the topics that are usually discussed at the high level sessions are the progress of community development projects (CDPs), presidential grants and land titling. Programme Assistant of the APA, Laura George said, “The APA had known about the project and we said to the government that it needed to have proper consultation with the members of the APA and the communities when the government is doing these land titling projects. “A lot of Toshaos have not seen the land titling document. We don’t know what is slated for titling, demarcation or extension. We are essentially left out in the cold.  When the agreement was signed on Monday (last) a lot of people did not know this, not even many of the Toshaos. We were not involved in the drafting of this agenda.” “Our Toshaos are pressured to sign projects that they don’t fully understand and we don’t fully understand. We are taken advantage of constantly.” “This agreement is just a band aid solution. There are lots of issues among the land titles that need to be addressed and we need to be a part of this discussion.” George explained, also, that the recommendations made by the APA have not been acknowledged by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs or the Government and that the group is not satisfied with the way they are being dealt with. Also commenting on the protest  was Sharon Atkinson, President of the APA. She said that there are a number of concerns but priority at this is point, is the titling of lands. Atkinson said, “The lands have not been titled according to the description in the 1976 Act. Since the last demarcation, people have been left out and in several Amerindian villages there are squatters in so called state lands. The next issue is that our health centres are in a deplorable state and the improvement of these facilities has been promised for some time now. The work done in our community is of a poor standard. We are not pleased and more needs to be done. “There are cases where you have schools in the Paramakatoi area where 800 students are being tended to by two teachers. The education system needs improving in these areas and all we are getting is a set of promises.” She added, “The Government so far has not been transparent with us. We need the Toshaos to talk on our behalf and not be swindled by the sweet promises of the Government.” “They also influence the Toshaos to make decisions without consulting us and that is not right.” Louis Mason, a Toshao of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), expressed, “We are also dissatisfied that we don’t have the right to the minerals on the lands that we own. That was very disheartening when we heard that it is not ours and that it is state owned.” “The US$10.7 Million can do something I guess but other Toshaos are of the view that this is not enough.” ‘We aren’t happy with the signing of the money because it wouldn’t help; instead it is going to create more problems, simply because there are other issues with which the Government must deal before they can get to demarcation.”