Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Thursday said the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on lands will not be dealing with Indigenous and ancestral land issues together, but as two separate issues.
Harmon was asked at the post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday to address criticisms by the National Toshaos Council (NTC), which has asked that government revoke the appointment of the CoI.
“The Toshaos’ statement is a matter of concern; we believe that all citizens have a right to have their issues addressed at whatever level it needs to be addressed…the president, having listened to the concerns by residents across the country regarding land—citizens in the hinterland, the communities in relation to ancestral lands—thought it best to appoint a commission to deal with these issues,” Harmon was quoted as saying in a Government Information Agency (GINA) report.
Harmon explained that Amerindian land titling will be dealt with by the CoI and there will be no mix- up with the ancestral land claims. “They will deal with ancestral lands, and they will deal with Amerindian land titling,” he said.
The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs on Thursday called for the leaders of the NTC to apologise for criticising the CoI, while saying “an insignificant minority of agents” of the organisation had allowed themselves to become instruments of “partisan political purpose.”
The ministry’s statement followed strong criticism by NTC Chairman Joel Fredericks, who said the Council, which represents some 80,000 persons and is made up of 212 leaders, was never consulted or asked for its input on the CoI.
NTC Vice-Chairman Lenox Shuman had also expressed his concerns over what he said was the government’s decision to pair indigenous land rights issues with the claims of freed Africans.
In March, President David Granger established the CoI under the Commission of Inquiry Act, to examine and make recommendations to resolve all issues, and uncertainties surrounding the claims of Amerindian land titling, the individual, joint or communal ownership of lands acquired by freed Africans and any matters relating to land titling in Guyana.
Harmon, GINA said, also explained that the CoI was established based on a promise by President Granger at the NTC Conference, and Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock would have explained this issue in details to the residents and the NTC.
“In this Commission of Inquiry, they are being provided the opportunity to deal with issues in relation to Amerindian land titles, ancestral lands and any other lands in the TOR [Terms of Reference] for the commission, so that in areas where you have conflict, because there is no absence of conflict in the application for land titles…and that is what the TOR deals with,” he further explained.
Guyana has established under the Amerindian Act of 2006, a legal framework which addresses Amerindian land rights and Amerindian communal land titling. Under the Act, many Indigenous communities have been able to acquire communal titles.
Minister Harmon made it clear that the government has no intention to dilute any aspect of the Amerindian Act, or to replace it by any intervention. He said that the government is committed to working with the Indigenous peoples to resolve the issue.
