A United Nations rights committee is concerned at problems faced by Amerindian communities in obtaining land titles and has urged government to revise the Amerindian Act 2006 and other relevant laws with a view to ensuring that Amerindian rights to their lands, territories and resources are protected.
Activists have long called for revision of the Act and conflicts with miners over mining rights in recent times have seen a renewed push for the legislation to be amended. The former PPP/C government had indicated that it was not inclined to do so and described the legislation as one of the most progressive in the world.
In their elections campaign, however, APNU+AFC officials had pledged that the Act would be revised. The coalition’s leader and now president David Granger had pledged to resolve Amerindian land issues. He had pointed out that land is life to the indigenous people and