Dear Editor,
During her budget debate presentation, the Minister of Amerindian Affairs had at her disposal, all of the records of the Amerindian Land Titling Project and cannot claim ignorance of its work and achievements. The minister told the National Assembly of the Parliament of Guyana that, the APNU+AFC Administration did nothing about Amerindian land titling. The facts prove otherwise. After six Upper Mazaruni Villages refused demarcation, the following six (6) villages, with applications for demarcation, were included in the Amerindian Land Titling Project (ALT) for the first time: Chinoweing, Tuseneng, Micobie, Shea, Shulinab and St. Ignatius.
As at 2019, the requisite investigations with respect to Chinoweing, Shea, Shulinab and St. Ignatius were completed. These are now among villages that the minister boasts will soon receive titles. The minister told the National Assembly that the APNU+AFC approved no titles. I shall now set the record straight. Approval was granted for the following villages to be titled: Tassarene, Kangaruma/Assuria, Parabara, Rockstone, Mainstay (Extension), Capoey (Extension), Mashabo (Extension), St. Monica (Extension), Yupukari(Extension), and Katoonarib (Conditional approval).
Of those ten, five (5) Villages received Absolute Grants as follows: Tasarene, Kangaruma/Assuria, Yupukari, St. Monica and Mainstay/Wayaka. The others were ripe for titling by the time the APNU+AFC demitted office. For some strange reason there is now no talk of Parabara in terms of land title. Could it be that Parabara is too rich in mineral resources and sits on too large an area of land?
Editor, I must let your readers know that Taserene and Kangaruma/Assuria were given ‘fake titles’, in 2012. Documents purporting to be valid titles to their lands were handed over to the Toshaos. They benefited from photo opportunities, after which the purported title documents were withdrawn. President Granger, during his term in office corrected this injustice. Proper research will prove that the PNC, whether by itself or in coalition with other partners, has always ensured that Indigenous Land Rights received proper attention. The Amerindian Lands Commission Act, the work of the Amerindian Lands Commission and the award of Absolute Grants to close to ninety Villages in 1976 and 1991 proves this beyond doubt.
Sincerely,
Mervyn Williams
