Dear Editor,
It is now approximately one year since the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G) has been in the news, continuously; under the microscope; subjected to the suspension of its subvention; and having to stave off malicious accusations ranging from financial impropriety to mismanagement, none of which has or can be proven. One is therefore left to wonder what has motivated this persistent onslaught. Notably, the commencement of the onslaught coincided with IDPADA-G`s request to meet with the President. That meeting was intended to engage the President on the State`s undertakings in relation to the decade, and the community`s take on the matter. It would have also provided an opportunity for the clarification of any concerns.
The opportunity to clarify any concerns was specifically mentioned in the third letter to the President. In the given circumstance, it can only be concluded that there was a determination that there should be no conversation with IDPADA-G about the decade and that all of the shenanigans were intended to veil the ruse, although the President, on three occasions, committed to meet with IDPADA-G. The result has been an unresponsive Government to the representatives of the Guyanese of African Descent and no specific attention paid to the decade as manifested in other ways, including the Government`s non-attendance at the first session of the United Nation`s Permanent Forum for the People of African Descent; and the meeting of the Working Group of Experts.
As a consequence, one of the issues which has not been attended to is the treatment of lands purchased by the ancestors of Guyanese of African Descent. There are myriad problems associated with ownership, occupation and disposal of those lands. The magnitude of the matter caused the previous Government to establish an entire Commission of Inquiry. However, the current Government has paid no attention to the matter. The specially declared decade has failed to move the Government to action, even as issues surrounding the matter take on a confrontational and even violent mode ever so often, a la Mocha-Arcadia, Kingelly, and Golden Grove, ECD to mention a few instances. Worse yet, the Raid Project which was intended to make some of those lands viable has not been continued, as intended. For example, the machinery intended for the completion and maintenance of those works have been removed physically, and from the control of the local committees.
However, in the face of inaction or retrograde action in relation to lands owned and/or occupied by Guyanese of African Descent and their communal and undivided lands, the Government is intensifying its “land acquisition efforts”. With the PPP/C`s continued control of some local authority areas in which traditional African villages are embedded, a la Hague/ Blankenburg, Industry/Plaisance et al, and the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission spreading its wings, there is every possibility that the unjust acquisition of lands which were purchased by the ancestors of the Guyanese of African Descent might be targeted, as has previously occurred. Such developments can undermine the goals of the decade and worsen the state of the Guyanese of African Descent.
There is need for the recognition of the land ownership of the Guyanese of African Descent; just treatment in relation to such lands; and opportunities for the development of the Guyanese of African Descent based on the utilization of those lands. Clearly the United Nations appreciated the state of the People of African Descent when it declared a decade under the theme: recognition, justice and development.
Sincerely,
Vincent Alexander
