Concerned at the granting of land for various reasons including large tracts of forest to controversial logging company Baishanlin and others, three North Rupununi communities have applied for extensions to their land.
“We have been using these lands and waters for hundreds of years. We feel pain when we see the government giving our land to the foreign logging companies. We feel hurt when government will not give us the indigenous people our land title,” one villager was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the non-governmental organisation Justice Institute Guyana.
Following a recent training programme, Apoteri, Rewa and Crashwater claimed extensions to their lands using the Amerindian Act 2006. The Amerindian communities expressed serious concern about the giving out of large tracts of forest to Baishanlin and other foreign companies, while they are still waiting for their traditional rights to be respected, the statement said.
Michael Williams, the chairman of the North Rupununi District Development Board
