The North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) says it has not taken a position on the controversial Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Lands convened by the APNU+AFC government.
It appeared to take aim at a statement from the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs (MOIPA) on May 26 that members of the NRDBB supported the CoI. The MOIPA statement to the press had been headlined `Indigenous body backs CoI into land ownership’.
In a letter to Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock on June 8th, the NRDDB said that at its last statutory board meeting held from May 17-19 at Bina Hill both the National Toshaos Council (NTC), which opposes the CoI, and MOIPA were given the opportunity to voice their position on the CoI.
“After listening to both sides, the NRDDB agreed that both parties had valid points. However, the NRDBB has not made any public claims of support for either body. We are concerned about what is being said in social media and the press, and feel that this is not the best approach to resolve public differences around the COI”, the letter signed by Secretary, Suresh Andries said.
The NRDDB suggested that an urgent meeting be held between the NTC and MOIPA to find a way of resolving the “sensitive and important matter of land claims”.
President David Granger’s announcement of a Commission of Inquiry to address ancestral land rights of freed Africans, Amerindian land titling and other claims has been severely criticized by the National Toshaos Council. It issued a statement on March 28 calling on the President to rescind his decision to set up this CoI.
The NTC statement then led to a statement by MOIPA in which it said that NRDDB members had come out in support of the CoI, a claim which has now been clarified by the NRDDB in its letter to Allicock.
No statement has been issued by Allicock on the letter which was released to the press by the NRDDB yesterday.
In their statement on March 28, the NTC said it “categorically condemns the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry as a mechanism to guide the process to addressing the lands issues as it relates to the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana. “Guyana’s First Peoples, as a core group of people with a very unique status in Guyana, and having lived on this land for time immemorial, view it as an aberration that needs to be recalled and have established, two separate entities to deal with the issues currently placed under such a blanket.
“The National Toshaos’ Council, a body comprising of all Toshaos of Guyana and a representative body of the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana, having never been consulted in the formation of such a body, cannot, with any degree of sanity nor confidence, respect such a body, and will refuse to cooperate with such a body.
“The severe lack of consultations, non FPIC (Free, Prior and Informed Consent) compliant, and the mere fact that a unilateral decision can be made on behalf of the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana in such a manner are most concerning.
“This is clearly viewed as a blatant attempt in trying to dispossess the Indigenous Peoples of our lands and we cannot condone such an attempt.
“While we support Reparations and Repatriation of African Lands and addressing that issue with a great degree of urgency, the Indigenous Lands issue cannot and should not be viewed in the same light, nor can it be addressed under the same framework.
The Indigenous Peoples, by Law, are entitled to their Traditional Lands, while the Africans are entitled to lands that were sold to their Ancestors. It is this very separation that needs to be clearly identified and defined. It is also in realizing that these two issues are separate issues that we must address them separately”.
The forthright statement by the NTC appeared to have caught the government off guard and Allicock set about trying to mobilise support for the CoI. In a statement on May 26, MOIPA said that following the Bina Hill meeting between it and the NRDDB, members of the latter body had thrown their support behind the government’s land CoI.
The MOIPA statement said that addressing the leaders on day two of the meeting, Allicock said he felt disrespected by the NTC leaders, whom the ministry noted were “acting in isolation and have been misleading residents of indigenous villages and communities before fully comprehending the (terms of reference) set out in the CoI”.
He said in the May 26 statement that despite the negative forces, the government will continue to promote unity amongst Guyanese, noting that instead of coming on board and assisting the CoI to formulate a plan of action, the NTC has chosen to “venture into murky waters”.
