Saying that it “sets the tone” for this year to be a “great” one, Opposition member and Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) Lenox Shuman yesterday threw his support behind this year’s budget while contending that Indigenous People now have better access to education and healthcare.
“I will say unreservedly that Budget 2023 sets the tone for this year to be a great year,” Shuman said during his contribution on the 2023 national budget. Shuman currently holds a list-joinder seat which groups three political parties.
While he did not address any specific aspect of the budget in detail, Shuman spoke about his contributions towards the development of Indigenous People, which he said resulted in their greater access to education and health care.
“…..It is because of continuous diplomacy and hard work that the indigenous people now have better access to education from 2020 to now,” Shuman said while adding, “from 2020 to now, I will tell you, where I would say next to no indigenous person had access to further learning. Under the GOAL programme so many indigenous people now have access to education”.
According to Shuman, language programmes have been launched in two indigenous communities and are expected to be rolled out in 18 more communities with funds allocated in this year’s budget.
“…Where we started off from 2020 to date. I had a discussion with the chief person in charge of education in this country that the language programme that we spoke about is now being launched as a pilot in two communities and yet to be rolled out in 18 communities as is contained in budget 2023. That is a massive (change) from the zero that ensued pre 2020. That is progress,” Shuman told the House.
Access to health care has been an ongoing conversation, he said. “To deliver and find more effective ways to deliver health care to indigenous people…This has been a comprehensive and continuous dialogue…in finding ways to deliver health services to the hinterland,” Shuman noted.
Speaking about the 24-year legal battle regarding Indigenous Lands in Region Seven, Shuman said when the APNU +AFC was in office, they did everything in their power to “frustrate” the process. “I am happy to say Mr Speaker that it is because of the constant dialogue between myself and the Attorney General and the Justice system…..The people finally got the ruling. So you cannot come to this podium and lament how great you were in office when you did absolutely nothing. You did everything to frustrate the process,” he charged.
Further, he said while they were in office, the Opposition also stalled the land titling process.
“Mr Speaker, they speak about land titling. I sat on the Amerindian Land Titling board Mr Speaker as a member of the Nation-al Toshaos Council…..I will tell you Mr Speaker, Amerindian land titling got absolutely nowhere…APNU+AFC removed the title from one indigenous area. So instead of giving titles what they have done basically is taken away,” Shuman said.
Before he went deeper into his contribution yesterday, the former Vice Chairman of the National Toshaos Council told the House that he is “disappointed” at the conduct by members of the Opposition.
“I hope the Guyana Elections Commission and the country at large, pays attention…..We have sat in this House and listened to a political party that sat in breach of the Constitution for how many years and how many months, continue to trample on that very Constitution,” Shuman asserted.
He added that in almost every contribution that he has made in the National Assembly, he has encouraged the Opposition to “do better. To lead better”. “….I have asked on several occasions for all of us, my colleagues, to not revert to race baiting. We are going to come in here and put sound bites that will reach the far end of his globe. Why? Because it makes us look good,” Shuman said.
He reminded that members of the House have sworn to uphold the Constitution. “…I would have thought that a party that would have exhausted every single constitutional mean to hold onto power would have educated themselves and read the constitution and know what their obligations are as written in this book,” Shuman said.
Shuman labelled members of the Opposition as the “primary chaos” agency of the country. “You cannot come to this House and speak about this House,” he said.
“When there is a Parliament some of them don’t even bother to log in. They don’t even show up. I think that the taxpayers need to tie performance and attendance to the pay of every parliamentarian,” he declared.
