About two-thirds of projects funded via the Amerindian Development Fund (ADF) did not achieve their objectives and Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs Sydney Allicock says the ministry is working to build management capacity to rectify the problems.
“One of the donors was saying that apparently 60 to 70% of the projects funded… [had failed],” Allicock told Stabroek News in an interview two Fridays ago. He added that the ministry is in the process of gathering information on the projects to plot the way forward and rectify the failures. “We see it as a good initiative but bad management,” the minister said.
Recently, Stabroek News had reported on a failed eco-tourism project at St Cuthbert’s Mission and a long-delayed fish pond project at Annai and Allicock said they are seeking to revive them.
He said that under the various projects, good equipment like tractors and buses were purchased “but bad management has caused most of them to be broken down so we need to build the capacity for the management of these things.” He pointed out that the villages could be making money with the equipment and the ministry is seeking to rectify the problems.
In terms of the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) project, the minister said it suffered a setback due to the elections but the ministry is confident that all the communities identified for titling for the remainder of the project will be completed.
The minister said they have been able to overcome some issues but were still trying to get these sorted out. He said there was need for a bigger team to be able to cope with the workload in order to meet deadlines.
He said ministry representatives were scheduled to meet the United Nations Development Programme on the ADF and ALT projects last Monday.
According to Allicock, some of the issues identified included the lack of timely reporting as well as lengthy exchanges which take up a lot of time. He said that some persons because of the nature of the work as well as the terrain, could not meet deadlines. There is need for more involvement of communities, he said while adding that there was concern regarding project staff overstaying their time in communities and overspending. He noted that one of the big worries is getting the right people on board to execute the projects.
Meantime, Allicock said the village councils will take the lead in selecting persons to participate in the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) programme which will be fully rolled out in the next year. He said Information Technology centres will be set up in every community and training centres will be centrally located. He related that youths would be trained in various areas inclusive of Math and English as well as skills training and leadership skills. The projects would be managed by the people with support from the ministry, he said.
“The idea here is to have the village councils help in determining what it is that they would want their young people to be doing,” he said, while adding that they do not want to project to be politicized as this would create friction in families as seen in the previous project.
Allicock said the centres will ensure better communication and persons would have access to information from the radio and internet. “Without proper information you wouldn’t have the chance of being able to decide on something,” the minister said while adding that more information will enhance understanding and enable the communities to make better decisions and improve their villages. “It’s not about trust anymore, it is about legal opinions,” he said.
Computer hubs
Apart from the training facilities which will be located in central communities such as Bina Hill, Moruca and Waramadong, internet facilities will be placed in every village. Allicock said that they would like to establish at least 30 fully-equipped computer hubs by the end of the year. He related that some of the hubs have been completed while others are in the process of being completed and now there is need to install computers.
In terms of accountability, Allicock said the ministry has done 18 audits so far but at the moment, does not have the required workforce of auditors. “The idea is to put better systems in place, see what you have and train people so that we, hopefully, will be able to have a system so structured that accountability to the communities and to donors… would be easily accessible,” he said.
“At the moment we are finding a lot of projects that were not properly handled, a lot of outstanding funds, this is really worrying,” he added. He said that now that they have recognized the problem, they have to fix it. He said that some toshaos have used up project funds without authorization and while some have promised to repay, others have not been forthcoming. He said some of the funds were from donors and the ministry has to account for them. “So recognising where the faults are gives us a better opportunity to work towards resolving the issues so that is what we are doing at the moment,” Allicock said.
As it relates to a code of conduct for toshaos, he said that they have been able to get the National Toshaos Council (NTC) on board and he is pleased at the work the executive is doing. He said that the NTC has spoken of such a code. The minister related that the ministry would like the NTC to build its capacity in terms of management and planning and training is ongoing at the moment. He said the ministry is also engaging other indigenous groups in the search for solutions
At the moment, the NTC is in the process of setting up its own secretariat. Allicock said the ministry would provide support in the initial stages but would like the body to be free or feel free to interact with anyone, seek its own funding, make plans and discuss them so that the ministry can see where it can lend assistance and make recommendations to public agencies or NGOs if needed.
“The ball is in their court and we wouldn’t want to be seen or people to feel that we brainwashing them or we want to take control. They have to make a decision because they have to answer to their people,” he said.
Muritaro
In terms of the opt-in mechanism for the Guyana-Norway forests partnership which was supposed to be tested in a community this year, Allicock said only Muritaro was willing to take the lead and the ministry would be working with the village to see how best it can get started. He said other communities still have a lot of concerns regarding demarcation and some are saying they do not want anything to do with that until their land claims are settled.
In terms of treatment of indigenous peoples generally, the minister acknowledged that Amerindians are still seen and treated as second-class citizens. He said education and information are critical to tackling these issues,
The minister pointed out that President David Granger has made a commitment to allow the teaching of indigenous languages in schools and support cultural revival. He said that the ministry is looking at creating opportunities for scholarships in areas such as archaeology because these things will help to open up hidden treasures in terms of history. According to the minister, the possibility of having a unit in the ministry working in the areas of culture, music, language, customs, history and arts, crafts, and so on, is being explored.
He said that opportunities for access to tertiary education are also on the agenda. He related that this year, the ministry was able to assist an indigenous student with the fees for law school studies in Trinidad. “She wants to do things on Amerindian issues, environment and that is critical because we don’t have enough indigenous legal minds,” he said while adding that they would want to do this in other areas as well.
