A suggestion by President David Granger for the establishment of an authority to monitor policies on indigenous affairs has Pauline Sukhai, former minister of what is now the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and a PPP/C MP, worried that it would be an attempt to usurp the independence of the National Toshaos Council (NTC).
The proposal, made during yesterday’s opening of the 10th annual NTC Conference, would see an administrative body in place year-round to ensure that the decisions of the NTC are properly implemented.
And while Granger acknowledged that Toshaos under the Amerindian Act are empowered to deliberate on and make decisions on the resolution of a large number of problems that affect indigenous communities, he pointed out the difficulty the NTC may encounter in monitoring the decisions implemented by the body all year round.
