Economic conditions, the political system, the state of education in certain communities and religious discrimination were some of the issues raised when the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) held a consultation with the Afro-Guyanese community on Tuesday.
Presenter Lennox King, speaking of economic conditions, said Afro-Guyanese communities have been especially impoverished from 1988. He said the communities were “forced to accept declining expectations” and also pointed to the dearth of cottage industries. King said Afro-Guyanese were not benefiting from the political system and they had no political representation. “It has not been the best,” he said.
Educator Elton McRae said some Afro-Guyanese communities used to be farming villages but today they were “dormitories”. He explained that people slept there but they worked elsewhere and many young men in the village had become involved in the drug business. McRae said the villages were no longer self-sustaining and drainage and irrigation (D&I) works had not been done in those communities since the 70s. As regards infrastructure, he said when persons from many East Coast Demerara villages sought assistance to have work done they were refused and pointed out that the villages need to be revitalized.
McRae also said that community high schools have more or less ceased to function and that 70% of young persons leaving schools were unqualified, with a significant portion being Afro-Guyanese. “Our children are not being taught in schools,” he contended. He also said that many schools located in Afro-Guyanese communities were short-staffed.
During discussions with the ERC commissioners, McRae said that in order to make the villages self-sustaining it was vital that the education system be examined; D&I structures rehabilitated; ways sought to encourage persons to start farming again and the local government system be reformed to cater to the villages’ needs rather than to political parties.
Meanwhile, the third presenter, Adrian Junior Elgin, raised the issue of discrimination because of religion. He said prejudice has raised its head as it relates to job opportunities and recounted an incident where a person who shares his religion, Faithist, was dismissed from a job on the same day that she was hired allegedly because of her religion.
Elgin said he too had found himself in a similar situation when applying to rent space at a particular post office and was asked about his religious persuasion. He alleged that upon hearing that he was a Faithist, the person’s attitude changed and he was not successful in renting space there.
ERC Chairman Bishop Juan Edghill declared that Elgin’s claims were shocking and he advised him to lodge a formal complaint.
Only three persons spoke at the meeting, which was held in the ERC’s conference room at its Queenstown office. Apart from the presenters, it was sparsely attended with only about six other persons.
