The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs is being accused of attempting to hijack the agenda of the National Toshaos’ Conference (NTC) by seeking to take full control over the agenda for the meeting, which will commence on Monday.
The NTC would bring together indigenous leaders from over 212 hinterland communities across the country. It is a platform for indigenous leaders to engage the government and other stakeholders on issues pertaining to the development of their communities.
The conference also sees the election of a new executive the National Toshaos Council. The life of the executive lasts for three years and the last election was in 2018. That executive was chaired by toshao Nicholas Fredericks of Shulinab village.
The last NTC was held in October of 2019, with the subsequent conferences being scuttled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ahead of the July 11 to July 15 conference, Sunday Stabroek was able to gain access to the proposed agenda. The conference is to be held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre under the theme “Good Governance and Fast-tracking Amerindian Development”.
According to the proposed agenda, the President and his entire Cabinet is expected to attend and he will make the feature address. The opening remarks would be delivered by Moraikobai toshao Derrick John followed by an address by Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai.
The closing remarks/vote of thanks will be delivered by government Member of Parliament Alister Charlie.
The afternoon session of the first day will be chaired by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’ Parliamentary Secretary Sarah Browne and would see the election of the new executive committee and the adoption of the agenda. The session would also see a presentation from the Amerindian Land Titling Department along with a presentation of the revised Low Carbon Development Strategy.
According to the proposed agenda, the remaining four days of the conference will be chaired by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’ Permanent Secretary. That move has led toshaos and indigenous rights groups to accuse the ministry of attempting to hijack the conference, which should be held on the terms of the Toshaos Council.
Sunday Stabroek understands that the Ministry has completely excluded the former executive committee from the planning of the conference.
Sunday Stabroek tried several times, between Friday and Saturday, to contact Minister Pauline Sukhai for a comment but all calls went unanswered.
However, a source in the Ministry related that while there has been some collaboration with the National Toshaos Council Secretariat, the conference is being organised by the ministry.
“All I can tell you we at the ministry is really spearheading the planning of the conference. Yes, they did consult with the Secretariat when we were coming up with the agenda, which is still under consideration, but we did not reach out to the former executive committee,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Sunday Stabroek reached out to a few toshaos, who confirmed receiving a copy of the draft agenda. They reported that it is a deviation from the manner in which the conference was conducted under the former APNU+AFC government.
“I personally was surprised to see that they left out the last executive committee. The agenda did not even give the former chair a chance to address the conference and say what they accomplished and call for a way forward. Instead, they put somebody else there in the place of him. It really shows the true colours of the government and they want to take over the conference,” a Region Nine toshao told Sunday Stabroek yesterday.
Another source told this publication that the draft agenda that has been circulated to toshaos clearly shows that there is the intention to have full control of the conference by the government.
“Under the coalition, the National Toshaos Council conferences used to be chaired by the NTC executive. Prior to that under the PPP the NTC conferences used to be chaired by the PS of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and it was Nigel Dharamlall when he was PS.
“And toshaos can talk about the experiences they have had when it was government-controlled [because] when the toshaos who wants to speak about rights and want to advocate for rights and protection and talk about issues [they] were not allowed to speak properly or given times to speak. Whereas toshaos who stood up to say thank you for the tractors and grants were allowed to speak, it was a whole attempt to divide and rule,” the source related.
Part IV of the Amerindian Act of 2006 speaks to the establishment of the National Toshaos Council. Section 39 of the Act says that the executive committee shall comprise one toshao from each administrative region. The Act mandates that the Council meet at least once every two years while the executive committee should meet at least twice each year,
Section 43 of the Act states “(1) The National Toshaos Council may determine its own procedure and may, in consultation with the Minister, make rules governing such procedure. (2) The Minister is an ex officio member of the National Toshaos Council but may not vote. (3) The National Toshaos Council shall (a) publish notice of its meetings in at least one national newspaper at least one month in advance; (b) allow Amerindians to attend its meetings and (c) publish an annual report of its activities and annual account and provide a copy to the Minister and each village.”
