Dear Editor,
The opposition alliance has declared the intention, if voted into office, to make changes to the constitution in order to maintain democracy in Guyana. Amerindians must take this opportunity to press for the revision of the Amerindian Act. That law in its present form can be used, in combination with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, as a political tool, because so many of its provisions depend on the approval of the Minister. Whilst such use of the system will not deliver enough swing votes for the current Minister to smile about, however expensively, we have had enough high-handed disrespect, through the act’s arbitrary use, to learn that it can be, as it has been, used against Amerindian interests.
The present Amerindian Act does not provide for redress against its misuse, nor ensure accountability in the case of conflicts between Village Councils and residents. Some councils view fellow Amerindians from the coast and other regions as outsiders, while there are those who feel that any adult Amerindian should be entitled to occupy available land in any designated Amerindian village. The appearance of discrimination (are we nine tribes or one race?) is damaging to the national fabric, and even raises the question why separate legislation is needed for one racial group among Guyanese presumed equal under the constitution.
What is evident to Amerindians, to all Guyana and the world, is that the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs has proven to be a servant of the ruling political party, equally in principle and in effect with the defunct Local Government system. With intelligent local government reform, the administration of Amerindian communities can be integrated in a way that ensures functional support to the neediest members of our nation. The many officials of that ministry can be deployed to use their knowledge of Amerindian conditions for better performance of the relevant NDCs and RDCs, and that opulent property in Georgetown can be converted to a complex where any Amerindian would be proud to stay while on a visit to the city.
At the same time a new administration should rethink the functions of the National Toshaos Council. Also, most Amerindian villagers would agree that the Community Support Officers should be empowered to act as more than mere promoters of party propaganda, but as true agents of economic development in the hinterland. In this context many issues arise, including loan financing, which Amerindian villagers cannot now secure upon the land they occupy, and electrical provision beyond token handouts of solar panels.
Numbers and locations of Amerindian voters, in the run-up to elections, will force all the political contestants to think about what this group of Guyanese needs and deserves. We can only hope that their thinking goes beyond the voting results, into what Amerindians can contribute to the nation, and how best to promote that contribution.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick Fitzpatrick
