After several postponements owing to the pandemic, the National Toshaos Conference finally was held last week under the theme ‘Good Governance and Fast-Tracking Amerindian Development’. Anyone with even a fleeting acquaintance with our Indigenous peoples would recognise that this was not a theme chosen by them. Previous PPP/C governments had kept a tight grip on these convocations, even trying to prevent the media from gaining access to members for the purpose of interviews. In contrast the coalition government had adopted a far more relaxed stance, allowing the Toshaos to mostly manage their own event.
Apart from Freedom House’s well-known obsession to control all institutions whether political or otherwise, there is a more powerful motive at play where the NTC is concerned. The PPP owes its accession to government to a significant share of the Indigenous vote, and if that vote ever strayed, then the party would no longer command a majority in the National Assembly. Its traditional approach to the Indigenous people has been a combination of domination and largesse. At election time especially the interior communities would find themselves the beneficiaries of outboard engines and the like, an approach which the coalition government also followed.
Owing to the fact that Indigenous communities are mostly far removed from the political antics and manoeuvrings of coastal politics, they have been encouraged to believe that the improvement of their lives depends on what a party which seeks power is prepared to give them. In a sense it does, but at the same time it leaves them as passive recipients of whatever is distributed, not active participants in the overall political structures by which this country is governed. Of course times are changing, and with the advent of the internet which is available in some hinterland areas, the increasing penetration of the interior by coastal and foreign interests, and the work of Amerindian organisations, the Indigenous population is becoming more aware of how the coastal world is run.
From the government’s point of view an independent-minded NTC could present them with political problems, so controlling the conference would have been essential. With that end in view it appears the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs initially compiled the agenda. Under its first draft the President and Cabinet were expected to attend with the former making the feature address. Moraikobai Toshao Derrick John was to deliver the opening remarks while Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai was also to give a presentation. Government MP Alistair Charlie was slated to offer the vote of thanks and make closing remarks.
That was the formal part of the conference. The more revealing arrangements came in relation to the sessions themselves, the first of which was to be chaired by the Ministry’s Parliamentary Secretary (whose appointment had been deemed unlawful by the High Court) who would oversee the election of a new executive and the adoption of the agenda, among other things. For the rest of the four days it was the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary who was to act as chair. It must be noted that the former NTC executive was completely excluded from planning the agenda, as opposed to what had happened under the previous administration.
Some of the Toshaos were not happy when they learnt of this, and described the arrangements as a deviation from the way in which the conference had been conducted when APNU+AFC was in office. One Region Nine Toshao told this newspaper: “I personally was surprised to see that they left out the last executive committee. The agenda did not even give the former chair a chance to address the conference and say what they accomplished and call for a way forward. Instead, they put somebody else there in the place of him. It really shows the true colours of the government and they want to take over the conference.” Another Toshao said that under the coalition the conferences were chaired by the NTC executive, although under previous PPP governments they had been chaired by the Ministry PS. In addition to that when Toshaos wanted to speak about rights and other issues, they were not given the time, as opposed to those who stood up to say, “thank you for the tractors and grants.”
The current government clearly understood the danger, particularly when it was being compared unfavourably with its predecessor, so the agenda changed and so did the arrangements for chairing the sessions. These were now chaired by the new Chairman of the NTC executive, Mr Derrick John, and a representative of the Ministry. The President’s tone was far more emollient than had been the case previously: “We brought you out here not to tell you what to do but to listen to you, to listen to your ideas, your needs, and after listening to you to craft a plan of action that will improve the life of every single Amerindian community in this country,” he said.
One thing which did not change, however, was the fact that Ms Sukhai did not give way on allowing the outgoing NTC executive any role. It was not altogether apparent what the reason for that was, unless there was an element of small-mindedness involved because it had been elected during the coalition era. Former Chairman Nicholas Fredericks was eventually invited to the conference and scheduled to speak, but as he explained in a letter to this newspaper the Ministry was so obscure and confusing about the arrangements it was not possible for him to attend. The Ministry’s terse account was that he simply didn’t board the flight.
President Irfaan Ali arrived with the traditional ‘gifts’ in the form first of all of an increase in the stipends of Toshaos, their deputies and senior as well as regional councillors, although the officials concerned have been asking for a pay increase for a long time. There were also absolute grants and certificates of title for seven communities. Of a different order was the President’s announcement that there would be a $3 billion supplementary budget to address the issues that were affecting indigenous communities. Most of the money, he said, would go towards addressing issues in education, health or agriculture, while $250 million of it would go to youth empowerment projects. It sounds like an impressive sum, but what matters is how it will be distributed, and whether in practice Indigenous communities will have the input they have been promised in the plan.
Minister Sukhai assured the Toshaos that consultations would be done on the Amerindian Act in every Indigenous community in Guyana, and that $10 million had been allocated in the Budget this year for the process. There is no problem with this. However, the limitations of the 2006 Act does have bearing on another matter which was raised in the conference by two Toshaos, and that is the Chinese Landing travesty. This was during the encounter with Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, when the Toshaos implored him to intervene in relation to the mining operations being conducted on titled lands there, and the threats being made to the members of the community by armed miners and, unbelievable as it sounds, the police as well.
The Minister said he would meet with the GGMC and Home Affairs Minister Benn so a team could be sent to the community to address the issue of threats. “I want to state clearly that the government is against any act of violence or any acts of discrimination against the people of the village,” he said. Anywhere else in the country senior police officers would have gone in long ago to arrest offending miners and remove their police associates who should also be charged if there is a prima facie case against them. The Minister also said a meeting would be set up in the course of this week with the relevant parties so they could find a solution to the various issues surrounding mining at Chinese Landing.
This is hogwash. Discuss finding a solution with the offenders? What is not clear is what legal options the community has. The first miner at Chinese Landing, a Mr Vieira, won a case at the CCJ because the GGMC had issued a cease work order to him based on a regulation in the Mining Act which the court said could not be applied to the Amerindian Act. So does this mean that all the provisions in the latter Act about securing the consent of two-thirds of the Village Council before small and medium-scale mining can commence on titled land are meaningless? And that any miner can go on to such land whenever he or she feels like it because there are no effective sanctions under the 2006 Act, only under the Mining Act which cannot apply to a different statute?
In fairness, Mr Bharrat is not the minister to answer this question; the Attorney-General is. It is not just Chinese Landing which needs an answer, but all the Indigenous communities. If the government does have the power to deal with illegal mining under the Amerindian Act, why has it not done anything in this instance? It makes nonsense of the request by the President that Toshaos should develop plans they believe would solve the issues their communities currently face. Chinese Landing residents can’t make any such plans until the mining problem is dealt with, and solving that problem lies exclusively in the government’s hands. Perhaps it is unfortunate that the two Toshaos did not put their concerns to the President directly, rather than to Minister Bharrat.
In the meantime the government should recognise that the NTC is evolving it own independent political character and it will become increasingly difficult to control it in the way that was done in the past. While President Ali has appeared more open than previous PPP/C presidents were, it remains to be seen whether he has really taken on board the peoples’ concerns. Chinese Landing is a test case.
