Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter in the Stabroek News under the caption ‘Should we be afraid to state our views lest they be said to be political?’ in the issue of December 3, signed by eight Toshaos of the Upper Mazaruni.
I have the following points to make:
1. Guyana is rich in democracy. Any Guyanese is free to be associated with a political party or organisation of his or her choice. The Constitution of Guyana, the highest law of the land guarantees this in Article 147. The eight Toshaos of the Upper Mazaruni are correct having stated this in their letter and in so doing they declare their association with the APA, an Amerindian organisation whose policies in relation to national hinterland projects that would bring benefits to Guyana’s indigenous peoples are tantamount to Amerindians punishing Amerindians.
2. I am prepared to offer the eight Toshaos of the Upper Mazaruni an unqualified apology for the claims I made against them published in the Guyana Chronicle on November 9, 2010, providing they give me sound rationalisations for their opposition to Guyana’s LCDS and Redd + strategy. They will have to tell me if the APA’s letter dated March 10, 2010 sent to the Norwegian agency for development cooperation and copied to the Upper Mazaruni District Council was given the same treatment as the NTC’s conference resolution supporting Guyana’s LCDS. Also I want to know if the ‘Public Statement’ by participants in a training of trainer workshop on ‘Indigenous Peoples Rights, Extractive Industries and National Development Policies in Guyana’ held at Cara Lodge, Georgetown, Guyana on March 2-8, 2010 was referred to the Upper Mazaruni communities for their guidance and consent consistent with Section 34(2) of the Amerindian Act 2006, and the free, prior and informed consent principle.
3. Never in an individual capacity did I promise the eight Toshaos of the Upper Mazaruni copies of the revised draft of the LCDS before the Copenhagen Climate Conference in 2009. The three Amerindian organisations that sit on the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee (MSSC) on the LCDS conducted continued awareness and outreach sessions in Regions 7 and 8 in September-October 2009 on Guyana’s LCDS and what we as a team told Toshaos and village residents is that they will receive the revised draft of the LCDS as soon as it is completed.
4. It is my continued contention that the eight Toshaos of the Upper Mazaruni have absolutely no basis for their opposition to Guyana’s LCDS and Redd+ strategy since both strategies will respect and protect the rights of Guyana’s indigenous peoples and their participation in the Redd+ strategy will be guided by the international rights principle of free, prior and informed consent. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on November 9, 2010 at Fairview Village between Norway and Guyana is also committed to the protection of indigenous people’s rights since both countries are signatories to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
5. But who does Peter Persaud represent? the eight Toshaos asked in their letter. I represent the rights and interests of Guyana’s indigenous peoples on a voluntary basis since 1993. I am not paid for my services whether internally or externally, and I do so both vigorously and vociferously; that is why I am recognised and invited to meetings both at the national and international levels. In this regard, I have no one to blame but my Arawakan or Lokono blood which is present in the marrow of my bones.
In 1998, I was invited to participate in a training programme – which I did – on ‘Indigenous Rights Advocacy at the UN Level’ by the International Training Centre of Indigenous Peoples (ITCIP) based in Nuuk, Greenland. At that training programme, trainees were and continue to be regarded as indigenous rights experts. So I do not need the backing of the Toshaos of the Upper Mazaruni in my representative actions, neither do I speak on their behalf, but I will continue to condemn their convenient and deliberate negative comments about Guyana’s LCDS. Also currently I am representing Amerindian security personnel in the North West region who are not paid for their services, and Amerindian women whose sons were killed in gold mining operations.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Persaud
