President Irfaan Ali on Tuesday announced that US$10m will be allocated for solar panels in Indigenous communities and he also pledged that land demarcation and titling will be focused on given their importance to the people.
In his address to launch the month-long Amerindian Heritage observances, Ali said that his government continues to work in a holistic manner to ensure that the policies and programmes created to address the pandemic will bring relief at the community and household levels and “more importantly, that it will see us riding out this difficult period in our history together, united and at the end of it, we must all be strong.”
“Whether you live in the mighty Pakaraimas, the sprawling Savannahs of the Rupununi, in the Upper Mazaruni, the Cuyuni, the North West District, in the rainforest or along our rivers, you are the ones who first inherited this land and who have treasured and protected it for generations. I want to assure you that your Government will never underestimate the value of this heritage, neither will we ever take you for granted,” Ali said.
According to Ali, it is for this reason that his administration has always recognised Amerindian rights to land, territories, self- determination and economic empowerment and rights for social and economic justice.”
He said he wanted to assure that the PPP/C Government will be building an agenda moving forward that will reinforce those rights, “that will ensure that you and every one of your communities benefit equally from the development pie of our country, that we will ensure social programmes, economic programmes, stimulus programmes reach every single one of your communities.”
Ali said that one of the first tasks he undertook as President was to work with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who has responsibility for Finance, in reprogramming resources to bring back the solar panels programme to Amerindian households, to give back the one laptop programme in their communities and electricity.
On this point he noted that US$10M has been reprogrammed for this from an Indian line of credit.
He said, “our strong commitment to your inclusion in nation building is already being reflected in our actions. We thank you, every one of you for your consistent support for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, which I represent but more importantly, for your support in ensuring that not only that the PPP/Civic formed the new Government but that I stand here as your President. I thank you sincerely and do appreciate the support you have given us.”
Priorities
The president said he wanted to assure that the priorities Indigenous peoples would have engaged him on during the campaign will be met, and that he understands and feels their need, know their areas of weakness and work on fulfilling the aspirations and needs of their communities in “giving you a stronger life, better life, a secure future and one in which the young people in your community can be proud of and know that every single Amerindian community has a sustainable and viable future.”
He said that his government’s commitment to their inclusion in nation building is already reflected in its actions, as on Tuesday not only were five talented Amerindians sworn in as members of the National Assembly to comprise the 12th Parliament of Guyana but his government supported for the first time, the Deputy Speaker of Amerindian heritage.
He said that while there are many threats still to be tackled in Amerindian villages as in many other parts of Guyana, the foremost threat at this moment is that posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in this regard, he said he assures that government remains resolute in ensuring the safety of indigenous communities, not just at an individual level but the issues of food security.
The president said he has directed the Minister of Health to fast-track hinterland interventions and measures and he has advised me that following sweeping consultations currently underway with Amerindian leaders, emergency measures will be announced shortly.
He continued, “And we will not wait for the COVID 19 Pandemic to subside. My Government will soon initiate a virtual consultation with the National Toshaos’ Council to chart the course of the delivery of our Manifesto promises.”
The president said that Guyana’s First Peoples can be assured that under his administration, their economic and social empowerment will be non-political and non-negotiable:
Highlighting promises in the PPP/C Manifesto, Ali said his government will ensure the revision and strengthening of the Amerindian Act in consultation with local leaders to reflect their evolving needs and that food production will be expanded, and food processing will be increased to bolster hinterland food security.
He said, too, that Skills training relevant to the oil and gas sector will include Amerindians, and business facilitation mechanisms which will be enacted to allow agriculture development in indigenous communities and to allow access to university and technical education and to tap into the opportunities created by the local content policy;
He said that local content policy must be able to create opportunities for Amerindians and must be able to “take your development aspirations into consideration and it must be able to reflect your development needs, also.”
The presidents said that Amerindians can look forward to improvements in social services, health facilities and expanded Hinterland water infrastructure and the electrification programme through the use of alternative energy technologies such as Solar and Hydro power.
He said, too, that Indigenous children can look forward to a higher quality education, including through the use of Information Communication Technologies, the provision of more and better-trained teachers and the award of scholarships.
Ali said that land is central to indigenous peoples’ development and that, that is why previous PPP/C Administrations made Amerindian Lands Demarcation and Titling an absolute priority. “The PPP/Civic Government wanted to ensure that indigenous peoples are not deprived of their rights to the lands which they occupy, utilize and to which they are entitled. And so, my administration will immediately restore the Land Project and establish a special mechanism to resolve land disputes,” he noted.
The protection of Amerindian rights, the preservation of their culture and their political, economic and social empowerment he said, will always be central pillars of the PPP/Civic’s Government policies.
“We will ensure that Amerindians are not left behind in the transformative developments, which will sweep our country into a modern future over the next few years. Amerindians, like every other ethnic group that make up our diverse society, are guaranteed equitable benefits from national development under my Administration,” the president said.
According to Ali, his government will rehire the 2,000 Community Service Officers (CSOs) who were dismissed by the Coalition Government, and he will restore the School Grants which were taken away.
He said they will also return to their “ground-breaking partnership forged through the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and advance the innovative “opt in” feature which allowed villages to benefit directly from the proceeds of Carbon Trading Services.”
