The PPP today condemned the government over Sunday’s arrests of Chenapau residents for alleged illegal mining.
A statement from the PPP follows:
The People’s Progressive Party condemns the arrest, detention of, and the institution of criminal charges against over twenty (20) Amerindians and villagers of Chenapau, including, women and children. It is a violation of their rights as indigenous people to free passage and subsistence use of the forests of Guyana.
If this is how the Granger administration intends to start implementing its Green State Development Strategy and commitments to the Paris Agreement, it is a bad start, as it undermines the very principle of people and forests and tramples on the rights of indigenous peoples – a principle which has been the cornerstone of conservation efforts of the PPP and a key component of the Norway Agreement.
Under the PPP Government, a national system of protected areas was established, which includes, Shell Beach, Kanuku, Kaieteur, etc., among other sites. In establishing these areas and safeguarding their eco-systems and biodiversity, our approach was defined by consultation, dialogue and reconciliation, not confrontation, force and criminal litigation.
It should be recalled that it was the PPP who enacted the Amerindian Act, one of the first and still the most comprehensive legislation of its type in this Region, which provides a network of legal mechanisms intended to safeguard, preserve and advance the rights of the Amerindian peoples of Guyana. We did so by way of a multi-partisan and widely consultative process, which embraced every major stakeholder in the country.
The silence of the two Ministers of Amerindian Affairs on this matter is both deafening and disappointing. It is clear that they have no real voice in the Government, or, that they have abandoned the Amerindians.
While we do not condone illegality and recognize the importance of preserving and protecting Kaieteur National Park and its environ, we demand the application of a more humane approach and one that recognizes the rule of law and due process, as well as, one that respects the constitutional and human rights of our people. Many who were arrested and hijacked to Georgetown claim that they were in no manner mining, or engaged in any form of unlawful conduct but yet were herded, arrested and brought to Georgetown against their will, where they were callously abandoned and left to find their way back to Region 8 at their own expenses.
The least that the Government can do in these circumstances is to immediately withdraw the charges filed and assist those stranded in Georgetown to return safely to their homes.
