The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) says that based on reports from its representatives and supporters in communities, the organisation was being “constantly maligned and blamed by government representatives during their recent outreach to Amerindian communities for the budget cuts and its future negative impacts on Amerindians.”
The APA is therefore making it clear that it had no inputs on this year’s national budgetary allocations or cuts, and is also emphasizing that it is not politically aligned.
Moreover, the APA in a press statement on Monday asserted that it is a non-governmental organisation that “seeks to outreach to all who interact with or have an interest in indigenous peoples’ development and upliftment.”
The statement follows the conclusion of its first statutory meeting this year, held from May 7-11, when there were discussions on a number of issues and concerns.
Among these, the statement noted, were the attacks on and misrepresentation of the work of the APA, the conduct of the recently held Toshaos elections and the kind of information that is being given to indigenous communities regarding the national budget cuts.
“Not only was this being done by government representatives but also by other individuals who ordinarily claim to represent indigenous peoples though it was not clear on this occasion who or what office they were representing,” the APA said.
The opposition, using its one-seat majority in the National Assembly, made cuts last month amounting to $20.8 billion of the $192.5 billion originally proposed by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
APNU and AFC cited concerns about a lack of accountability for some allocations as well as the need to trim wasteful spending in order to enable measures to address the cost of living.
The government, meanwhile, has criticised the opposition for slashing the budget and the ruling PPP/C said that it will continue to educate Guyanese about what it called the “anti-development acts” of the combined opposition.
Additionally, the APA stated, the organisation was being linked with one opposition political party or the other as it suited whoever was speaking at the time.
“The APA wishes to clarify that it had no inputs on budgetary allocations or cuts, is a non-governmental organisation who seeks to outreach to all who interact with or have an interest in indigenous peoples’ development and upliftment but is not politically aligned,” the organization declared.
The APA’s Executive Committee also said that its position on the Guyana’s LCDS (Low Carbon Development Strategy) was made very clear in various documents submitted to the government and others.
“In principle we believe that potentially the LCDS can offer great benefits to Guyana and to indigenous communities but there are certain rights issues that needs to be addressed,” the APA maintained.
“The government,” the APA continued, “has agreed in its negotiations with the Norwegians that it will follow certain guidelines and ensure that certain safeguards are followed and it is these that the APA is urging the government to abide by.”
Moreover, the APA said that to date it is aware that not all of these have been observed and it is also urging the government to follow the relevant internationally accepted standards and safeguards, especially those that the state has agreed it will abide by.
The APA is also “urging persons who identify themselves as representatives of indigenous peoples to work towards the improvement of the conditions of our people and not to be engaged in spreading fear and mistrust within the communities.”
“It is worthy to note that persons on the recent visits to the communities have been telling our people that there are no monies for development but still find the funds to travel to different villages to tell them so,” the APA pointed out.
In addition, the Executive Committee stated that it “would also like to remind the head of the National Toshaos Council and the Head of the Indigenous Peoples Commission that they hold key positions in representing the indigenous peoples of this country and this must not be confused with political party representation.”
