Debate on an opposition motion for the revocation of the presidential commission of inquiry (CoI) on lands commenced on Monday in the National Assembly but only two speakers managed to make presentations before it was deferred for more than a month.
The mover of the motion, former Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai, and Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock were the only speakers on the motion before the parliamentary sitting concluded at 10pm.
Monday was opposition day and only one motion, relating to a call for the revocation of the hikes in rental and other fees for farmers in the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ ADA) areas, was debated in full.
The next official sitting of the National Assembly is scheduled for June 15, when the government’s business would be dealt with. On the following day, there would be another sitting solely for the completion of the debate on Sukhai’s motion.
The PPP/C complained bitterly over not being allowed to complete the debate and at a press conference on Monday evening MP Anil Nandlall said it was more evidence of the continued stifling of debates in the National Assembly, which he argued has become a permanent feature. He also said it is part of a growing authoritarianism which is taking place in the country.
Against this background, Nandlall spoke of the barricades that were erected to bar people from protesting in front of the Public Buildings during Monday’s sitting.
He added that the PPP/C was told that the sitting would not go beyond 10pm and he observed that during the PPP/C’s days in office the sittings would go until 3am on some occasions.
Nandlall emphasised the importance of the motion, which he said reflected concerns expressed by the Amerindian community, which makes up a significant part of the country’s population
During Monday’s sitting, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Joel Fredericks and Lennox Shuman, respectively, were seated in the National Assembly while wearing their traditional head dresses.
In his presentation, Allicock charged that the motion seeks to discuss an issue that is non-existent and in reality challenges nothing. He said that it is strange that four days before the motion came up for debate, two leading members of the NTC, on a “frolic” of their own, sought to debate the “same non-existent situation.”
Fredericks and Shuman were the leading voices at a press conference held by the NTC last week, during which they called for the CoI’s revocation.
At this point, PPP/C MP Priya Manickchand stood on a point of order and complained that the minister had referred to persons who could not defend themselves in the House in a derogatory manner.
Speaker Dr. Barton Scotland thanked her for the point and then invited Allicock to continue in his presentation.
Allicock said that the motion helps to cement the PPP/C’s position in the opposition beyond 2020. He said the CoI’s terms of reference do not even have a veiled suggestion of a disposal of Amerindian land titles and he called on the opposition to prove the assertion or apologise to the indigenous people and withdraw the motion.
Further, according to him, Amerindians’ access to lands and titles preceded the Amerindian Act and the NTC had stoutly represented that the Act failed to address the indigenous land issues and the question of rights.
Vein
In the same vein, he said, the NTC Vice-Chair broke ranks with his colleagues, demanding that the Amerindian land titling process be halted until the Act is amended. He added, now the “same gentleman,” though he did not name him, a few days ago made an “about face of no mean order.” He went as far as to refer to the biblical story of Judas, who sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
For her part, Sukhai questioned if the Indigenous people have not requested a review of the land allocation process, why was it being pushed down their throats. “Why are we expressing repressive behaviour, as a government, against the Indigenous people?” she questioned.
Referring to herself as an Indigenous person, Sukhai said they are so empowered “we know where it pinches” and “we know our contributions to this country” as well as the challenges and the disadvantages.
She said the leaders and the people would be loud in their objections on matters that threatened their existence. She said the PPP/C will throw its support behind the NTC on the matter of their objections against the CoI.
She referred to the slogan by the coalition during its campaign in the hinterland, which was told that “It is time to respect our Amerindians.” She questioned whether the CoI is the way the administration is demonstrating respect.
“The People’s Progressive Party supports the dissolution of this commission with the specific terms of reference mandated to the commissioners as it relates to indigenous land claims and titling,” Sukhai said.
She said Allicock “allowed his peers to overstep their boundaries on these matters” while describing the terms of reference of the CoI as a “recipe for chaos and tension.”
Sukhai also pointed out that land for Amerindians is life and the foundation of their development and therefore it is a “slap” in their faces that the government that professed respect for them prior to the elections has now, according to her, thrown them aside.
Last week, the NTC, which represents some 80,000 persons and is made up of 212 leaders, said it was never consulted or asked for its input on the CoI.
As a result, Fredericks had pointed out that the NTC had felt sidelined and that the government was not adhering to the laws in the Amerindian Act that defines how Amerindian Land Titling issues should be dealt with.
Shuman had also expressed his concerns over the government’s decision to pair indigenous land rights issues with the claims of freed Africans. He had said that the Council was of the opinion that the two issues were drastically different, since having something passed down for generations and buying something were not the same.
The CoI, appointed by Presi-dent David Granger in March, is tasked with examining and making recommendations to resolve all the issues and uncertainties surrounding the individual, joint or communal ownership of land acquired by freed Africans; claims of Amerindian land titling; and other matters relative to land titling.
The commission is being chaired by Reverend George Chuck-a-Sang. In a brief address at the swearing in of the members of the commission in March, Granger explained that the CoI is meant to settle all controversies originating from disagreement over ownership of land, so as to satisfy all of the citizens of this country “that we need not fight each other for land; that we will investigate their claims and we will respond to their just demands.”
