The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) has reiterated that it stands in solidarity with residents of the Region One community of Chinese Landing and has taken note of attempts to portray the organisation in a negative light.
The association in a release yesterday made known its deep concern that “opportunists” are using the occasion of the National Toshaos Council’s (NTC) Conference to malign the name of the Association. It noted that this is not the first time that such misinformation on individuals and the organisation is being peddled and expressed worry that the NTC conference can be used to make the APA “a scapegoat” as well as sow mistrust among the leaders.
The APA also emphasised that it has always advocated for the rights of Indigenous peoples in Guyana. “As an indigenous peoples’ rights-based organisation, the APA is and has always been an important advocate in the advancement and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in Guyana, and for the protection of their lands and territories. The organisation has always stayed true to these objectives and has consistently been providing technical and other support to indigenous communities, a matter that is made public from time to time when such support is provided.”
Also mentioned were rumours circulating at the current Toshaos Conference that the APA is responsible for a smear campaign against the toshao of Chinese Landing, Orin Fernandes. Apparently, some unknown person or persons had distributed envelopes containing a flyer intended to denigrate the intentions of the Chinese Landing Village Council. Those envelopes, it was explained, were marked with the names of toshaos in the Moruca Sub-Region and were given to the respective toshaos; even Toshao Fernandes of Chinese Landing received one.
The Chair of the NTC, the release stated, has since disavowed any knowledge of the origins and the distribution of the packages. This prompted the APA to request that the NTC going forward, ensures the safety and security of the leaders attending the conference. It also called on the NTC to take action to prevent similar occurrences during its conferences.
“That the APA is responsible for this action cannot be further from the truth and can only be considered as very malicious against the good reputation of the organisation, the mutual respect that the leaders of the Moruca sub-region have for each other, and the efforts of the Toshao and members of the Chinese Landing Council to fix a bad situation. The organisation will never be involved in a campaign that maliciously targets our Indigenous communities and leaders. This is being deliberately done to cause confusion”, the release said
As such, the APA reminded that the organisation has been supporting Chinese Landing for decades, and spoke of the time the community was at the receiving end of a poor mining deal with a mining company, when others had abandoned them. Also noted were the issues faced by the community as a result of the issuance of mining permits on their titled lands and the invasion by outside miners which have been consistently highlighted in the press. Reference was also made to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) call for precautionary measures in favour of the community. Those precautionary measures called on the Govern-ment of Guyana to take the necessary steps to protect the rights of Chinese Landing residents, among others. The APA therefore stressed its condemnation of the attempt to “besmirch” the character and intentions of the Chi-nese Landing Village Council.
And as far as the association is concerned, it is obvious that there are those who do not wish to see any improvement in the situation of the people of Chinese Landing and accused them of being willing do anything for this status quo to remain. It urges the public to read and understand the “dire situation” that faces the residents of Chinese Landing, while pointing out that this is a matter of the violation of the basic rights of the people and should be condemned by all human-liking people.
The release declared the APA’s support for the people of Chinese Landing in their position that the government should revoke the mining permit of Wayne Vieira and order the removal of all outside miners and equipment from their lands. It also supports the statement made by Toshao Fernandes at the opening of the NTC Conference on Monday, August 28.
“The APA reiterates that we will not be the scapegoat for this or any smear campaign and urges all responsible to stop the attacks against the organisation. We are not the problem. We will not sit idly by and allow our reputation to be tarnished or blame to be placed at our feet when all we have done is to be supportive of the communities,” the release added.
