On the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which was observed yesterday, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has expressed pride at the efforts of the governing coalition to preserve and use various indigenous languages for public information.
The day, which was celebrated under the theme “Indigenous Languages”, marks the first meeting in 1982 of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations.
“As a partner in the current coalition government, the PNCR is proud of the progress and development that is taking place in….communities, especially in the area of education and public information,” Minister of State Dawn Hastings-Williams declared at the party’s weekly press conference yesterday.
According to Hastings-Williams, the party is aware that languages play a crucial role in the daily lives of people, not only as a tool for communication, education, social integration and development, but also as a repository for persons’ unique identity, cultural history, traditions and memory.
She stressed that under the APNU+AFC government, radio stations have been established – at Mahdia, Mabaruma, Lethem, Bartica, Aishalton and Orealla. Through these stations, several communities have been receiving public information in indigenous languages.
The minister highlighted that applications for employment and advertisements for contracts were recently broadcast in the indigenous languages on Radio Aishalton, which was launched in 2018.
“The Ministry of Education has been working on introducing indigenous languages in schools in indigenous peoples’ districts,” she added.
“The PNCR believes that radio broadcasts in the hinterland provides an opportunity for indigenous peoples to connect and preserve their languages while informing the population. We believe that an informed population is an educated population,” Hastings-Williams concluded.
APNU+AFC parliamentarian and Ministerial Advisor Mervyn Williams added that in keeping with the International Year of Indigenous Languages, a Patamona dictionary and tourism handbook in the different indigenous languages will be published, while modules for teaching Carib and Arawak languages are being prepared.
“The total budget the year for indigenous languages is $30 million,” he said.
