Budget plans signal better life for indigenous peoples, Allicock says
Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock says planned interventions under the proposed 2017 national budget demonstrate the importance of the indigenous communities and peoples to the process of national development.
Speaking immediately after former minister of Amerindian affairs Pauline Sukhai on Thursday, Allicock sought to clarify how government policy, as expressed in the budget, would result in a better life for the people of the hinterland.
He cited planned interventions in the areas of infrastructural development, food security, renewable energy, sustainable ecotourism development, security, communication, education and health care delivery.
He identified the clean renewable energy projects, such as the proposed solar farm in Mabaruma, as initiatives which would result in billions of dollars in savings and an additional seventeen hours of electricity per day for the community.
Addressing claims made by opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Yvonne Pearson that the budget does not have “economic activity for indigenous peoples,” Allicock said that such a position is rooted in the opposition’s preference for handouts to be given as a form of control over indigenous peoples.
His government, he argued, has moved away from seeking to control people by starving them of opportunities and then offering them hand-outs as a form of induced servitude. “We believe instead in the principle of self-determination of our indigenous peoples. This is why the Ministry of Public Infrastructure will build roads, bridges, airstrips and wharves to stimulate and foster economic activity. This is why our young people, who, having been trained in specific skills areas, will be motivated to create their own opportunities, making full use of the infrastructure to make simple their operations,” the minister explained.
He further noted that infrastructure development brings jobs with it and it leaves in its wake enormous opportunities for both the establishment and expansion of businesses.
Allicock argued that indigenous peoples have expressed a preference for partnerships, such as that between the Ministry and organisations such as Conservation International, Remote Area Medical and the United Nations Development Programme, whose shared mission is to lift the capacity of the indigenous population in every conceivable area.
“We are working to bring community development projects to boost food security, enhance health care delivery, expand sustainable economic ventures in ecotourism and agriculture among several areas. All of the outcomes of the partnership engagements will create jobs; all of them will lift the quality of life of the hinterland and indigenous peoples of Guyana with minimal reliance on the tax dollars and burden on the national budget,” he stressed.
Earlier, Sukhai criticised the ministry, and claimed that its implementation problems have become so widespread that President David Granger was moved to recommend that a unit be established to implement the decisions of the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC).
Sukhai noted that the recommendation is contrary to the Amerindian Act but said that the recommendation itself is a sign that the president recognised that the ministry was plagued by slothfulness and poor leadership.
She maintained that a clear example of this is the failure of the ministry to produce the report of the commission meeting held in August of this year for Cabinet and NTC executive. “I am appalled at the ministry,” Sukhai told the House before asking where the projects catered for in the 2017 budget originated. “It is this report which informs on budget allocations for the indigenous peoples. It was not submitted… so how were 2017 budget allocations decided?” she asked.