-Jagdeo tells Amazon indigenous leaders
President Bharrat Jagdeo told the delegates at the Guyana Shield Conference dinner that the status of local indigenous people has been boosted due to a number of opportunities made available to them as well as the amended Amerindian Act.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release Jagdeo said Amerindians had not been part of mainstream society due to “location because many of them live in the hinterland location far from the coast; so what we have sought to do over the years was try to correct some elements of that disparity, every community has access to a school, they have a health hut, almost in everyone of these community we have health workers who are being paid by the government.”
He also told the guests at the dinner hosted after the Guyana Shield Regional Meeting that Amerindian children can now benefit from secondary level education within many of their communities as dormitories have been built at central locations and their needs funded by the state. Many students have also benefited from hinterland scholarships where they are given the chance to attend schools in the city. Some have also been able to further their studies overseas with about 40 students pursuing studying in several fields such as medicine and engineering both locally and abroad.
The president acknowledged that there remains the need to improve incomes as most indigenous families depend on subsistence farming due to their location. Jagdeo said he hopes this issue can be addressed through the avoided deforestation model that lobbies for compensation for standing forests.
Regarding mining, which has been a topical issue with the visiting delegations and local indigenous communities, Jagdeo said many of the Amerindian communities are titled; giving them veto over small and medium-scale mining. “We are one of the few countries that have actually come forward with sub-surface rights because they mainly had the right to use the land, the forest etc to hunt and fish traditionally … but this act (New Amerindian Act) has now given them a veto power,” he said. He added that if the communities agree to mining on their land a tribute must be paid to them, further; if a large deposit of any mineral is found the community must be consulted and must benefit from it.
As regard land claims, Jagdeo said since 1992 about 13% of land claims have been processed, an improvement from the six to seven per cent that had been previously processed. “We are hoping that it will exceed some 20 percent of the land, that is titled land, that they will have all of these rights come forward on the communities. It a bit difficult now because of its cost, I was told that it costs $250,000 to demarcate sometimes one community,… so funding is an issue now but I think because of the commitment we made we have to find the money to complete the demarcation, that includes land traditional plus requests for new lands, expansion,” he said.
Meanwhile, President of the Association of Amerindians in French Guiana, Charles Jean Auberic said he too is cognisant of the president’s proposal on climate change and indigenous people’s rights and wanted to share his experience and expertise. Also, Leon Wijngaarde, President of the Organisation of Indigenous People in Suriname said Amerindians have not always enjoyed their rights and he hoped that Jagdeo would press the issue with the Surinamese president,
According to GINA, Ecuador, Peru and Columbia were also represented at the meeting which was held from April 13 – 17.
This story shows exemplary leadership of the President (and the government) even with regards to indigenous peoples’ concerns. The organisations in Suriname for example have recognised this and urged him to assist them but the President cannot get involved in the affiars of another country. What the Guyana government is doing will benefit everybody in a general way.
THe president is correct when he says that much has improved for the indigenous people in recent times. Many Indigenous communities, titled or not, have been subject to much infrastructural development including schools, multi purpose complexes, health centers, resource centers etc. There are now many indigenous students being exposed to secondary and tertiary education and therefore pursuing professional careers.
However, there is still a lot that needs to be done for these communites. Mining still remains a major problem. Even though the village councils now control the mining activities within their titled land, they still have very little control over activities in proximity to their lands which may have a similar effect on its people as if the mining was within the titled land. Infrastructure, such as roads, bridges etc also need much improvement so that the people can undertake livelihood exercises such as commercial farming etc.
But there has definitely been an improvement!
The Government has done a great job in uplifting the indigenous people; more opportunities, improved living standards and a chance to express themselves and rich heritage has been given.
During their ENTIRE Governance, the PNC regime oppressed and segregated the indigenous people SHAME ON YOU PNC. Oddly, in present times, the PNC pretends to be a revolutionist party…haha
Good job to protect the native Guyanese from exploitaion,and by unscupulous businessmen.
I am not for any political party but here is the truth.
In education – Students who attend school(mostly primary school) in the 50’s/60’s were those whose parents barely went to school – some hadn’t the opportunity (this is looking at it from the Rupununi situation). Maybe the coastal locations were exposed to formal education earlier than there. All this depended on when the church/es = Catholic/Anglican built the school for the village. What we Amerindians should be very grateful for are the churches that went in there and started schools. In the South Rupununi, Fr. Mc Kennon got the villagers to built many schools.
It was tougher then for the students since parents couldn’t read/write – muchless their children. Many heard ‘English’ for the first time on their first day at school. How can a teacher ever get through to such students? There were hardly a villager as teacher. Further what were the level of education of those ‘teachers’ anyway? What experience/training they had?
Very few of those children made it through the primary education – before becoming ‘teachers’.
In the mid 70’s training of the Amerindians teachers at the Teachers’ College began(mostly). This continued into the early 90’s – some even further their studies at the university and beyond.
The point here is that those number of students that are boasted about are either children or former students those trained Amerindian teachers. There are hardly coastland teachers in those villages presently.
During previous times there were students on interior scholarship attending city schools -there were Amerindian students who studied in same old Havana.
The BIG issue that the gov’t turn a blind eye/s to is the problem/screated by mining. It is not only pertaining to the Amerindians whose locations are in the mining areas but it is the destruction of natural environment permanently that matters most.
Why cry for that amount of money to do the demarcation when half could be given to the village – let them do the demarcation themselves. Who else know their land better them?