MPs clash over Amerindian land titling

Members of Parliament Vincent Henry and Yvonne Fredericks-Pearson clashed during Tues-day’s budget debate over the issuing of Amerindian land titles.

Using at least six of the 35 minutes allotted to him, Henry, an APNU+AFC parliamentarian, contended that it was the PNC that initiated land titling activities.

“It was the PNC that agreed to and worked towards the facilitation of land titling in Guyana. It was the PNC that facilitated the formation and activities of the Amerindian Land Commission. The formal land titling of indigenous communities began in 1974, long before 1992. According to a study titled Mid-Term Evaluation of Amerindian Land Title Project in Guyana by Carlos Camacho Hassar in 2014, in 1974, the PNC government of Guyana granted land titling amounting to 6,135.6 square miles and then titled seven villages in Region 7 in 1991, covering an additional 1,596.1 square miles. This amounted to 7,721.7 square miles granted by the PNC to indigenous villages prior to 1992. Our history did not start in 1992.”

Henry stated that the process was halted due to the no-confidence motion in 2018.

“Due to the no-confidence motion orchestrated by the PPP/C, many of the villages were not finalized”, he charged.

He added, “Mr. Speaker, the institutional memory of the work was left with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and should have been continued if the PPP had any care for the indigenous peoples. I personally know that many villages were on the verge of getting their titles and extensions. One of these is St. Ignatius, which has a very large population of indigenous peoples.”

Henry was countered by Fredericks-Pearson of the governing PPP/C, who spoke immediately after, placing on the record that the government had left funds to facilitate the land titling process, along with certificates ready to be issued, but to no avail.

“The Honourable Member spoke about land titling. Yes, it is true that prior to 1992, Amerindian villages did receive land titling. Yes, that is true. You are correct. And I think that’s the only correct thing you said. You are correct. However, under the PPP/C, land titling continued. The project and programme continued. And I’m saying when we left office in 2015, funds were there to continue that project. In May 2018, a former minister said, ‘I was unable to title any village.’ Now this is public knowledge. I was unable. Funds were there. In your manifesto, in the APNU+AFC manifesto, they said, they promised, they promised that they would address the issue of land titling and Amerindian land titling. They said it would be according to international standards. They promised that. And what happened? What happened? They failed. They failed”.

She stated that during her tenure as head of the land titling team, reports were submitted and all that was left to be done was to issue the certificates.

The land titling project began in October 2013 under the PPP/C administration. It is being funded by money earned under Guyana’s forest protection partnership with Norway and is being overseen by the United Nations Development Programme.

Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai recently stated that for 2024, two certificates of titles were issued to Karasabai and Arau at the National Toshaos Council (NTC), while six absolute grants were handed out to Kobadia, Hotoquai, Akawini, Red Hill, Moco Moco, and Sawariwau.

Back in 2016, just months before it was scheduled to end, the land titling project was only able to demarcate a quarter of the 68 villages it was supposed to complete. This led to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, headed by then-Minister Sydney Allicock, being granted an extension of the US$10.7 million venture.