Dear Editor,
The Honourable Minister of Amerindian Affairs had met with some of the senior staff of her Ministry, and collectively, we had determined that the occasion of the Minister’s Media Conference of March 22nd, 2010 would provide the opportunity to inform the Guyanese people, and moreso our Amerindian population, about the Ministry’s programme of activities it was pursuing in 2010 in order to extend and further improve the quality of the social services and infrastructure we have been providing in the Amerindian Villages/Communities; our support for Village economies, and concomitantly, the quality of life of its residents.
This she was able to accomplish with a focus on the Ministry’s interventions in a number of areas including (a) the hinterland and national scholarships for outstanding hinterland students (b) health and social welfare (c) improved transportation and communication between the Villages and the urban communities (d) the National Hinterland Secure Live-lihood Programme and the Presidential grants with their prime focus on developing the Village Economy through developing and implementing Projects of the Villagers’ choice that will create employment, generate income and provide improved food security for them.
The Honourable Minister also emphasized the continuous role of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs in Amerindian Land Titling and the Land Demarcation process.
We eagerly awaited the contribution of the Media for we concurred that a responsible Media has a role to play; not only in the dissemination of information and in stirring interest in development issues; but in being impartial and objective.
The latter two are a sine qua non in pursuit of truth. Because you criticize the Government doesn’t make you independent. On the contrary, it affiliates you with the other side- the side of half-truths, untruths, misrepresentation and sensationalism.
Some of the media obviously had predetermined where their interests lay. They were only interested in the Low Carbon Development Strategy and a fixation that there were inadequacies in the consultation process; moreso as it related to our Indigenous people.
Essentially, three questions arose out of the insinuations of some Media, viz:
whether Amerindians understood the English Language?
whether Amerindians understood the LCDS?
how useful were written as opposed to oral translations of the Low Carbon Development Strategy when indeed such an exercise as the former is complex, and most of the persons for whom it was targeted could not read the language? This was the Honourable Minister’s rhetorical retort which provoked some displeasure on the part of some media.
The response of the Honourable Minister of Amerindian Affairs must therefore be viewed in that context. English she said was the official language of Guyana and Amerindians in Guyana spoke English like any other Guyanese. And it is in recognition of the fact that some Amerindians, mostly among the older folks, were more comfortable speaking their language notwithstanding the fact that they understood the spoken English; that there were translators present to do simultaneous oral translations as the Strategy was presented.
The Honourable Minister in all sincerity, resisted attempts to play down and undermine the achievements of the LCDS consultations. And she must be congratulated.
She was a Presenter at all the Consultations in which she participated. She was an integral part of the planning for the Consultations. She, like others from the Steering Committee, provided information to participants and responded to their questions. She listened to recommendations while offering comments .And now she was expected to be submissive in the face of deliberate attempts at misrepresentation of the truth.
But the truth is that we never viewed consultation as a one shot exercise but as a continuous process in which participants benefitted at each stage of the process by way of (a) new information presented (b) improved, simpler and more effective ways of presenting the information (c) constructive questioning as participants were able to better understand the information presented to them. Further-more, Amerindian Villages are allowed adequate time to study the Low Carbon Development Strategy before taking any decision on whether to opt in to the strategy or not.
This approach allows even those Amerindian NGO’s that seek to usurp unto themselves a mandate from our Amerindians to represent them, to join the several education and awareness programme of activities that will continue whether under the auspices of the National Toshaos Council, the Multi-Stakeholders Committee, the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, the Schools, the Youth Groups or any other Group that has a genuine interest in Amerindian development; as we expand the consultation activities among Amerindians.
The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs will continue to promote and to pursue our Government’s policies and programmes aimed at providing more “opportunities and support” for our indigenous Communities. The Low Carbon Devel-opment strategy provides opportunity for ‘rapid development along a low carbon path’ for all Guyanese including the Amerindians whether they opt in to the strategy or not. They understand this.
No attempt at misrepresentation of the truth or awry sensationalism will change that position. We have progressed too far to turn back.
Yours faithfully,
Norman Whittaker MP