President’s Lands Commission threatens Amerindian rights and democratic gains, it must be revoked

Dear Editor,

The PPP/C administration, using the provisions of the Amerindian Act of 2006 and the Amerindian land policy which preceded it, addressed a large number of Amerindian land issues for new communities and extension of communities that already held Land Titles/Absolute Grants.

As of 2015, there were 103 Amerindian communities awarded absolute grants of community titles of which 83 were in the process of being demarcated. Fifteen (15) applications for extensions were pending and 6 were awaiting title.

Guyana continues to be internationally recognized for increasing the amount of land owned by Amerindian (Indigenous) communities from 6.5 to 14% in less than a decade. Up to recently, Guyana was second to none in the hemisphere when it comes to addressing Amerindian land rights and indeed Amerindian rights in general.

This is why the recent appointment by His Excellency President David Granger of a Commission of Inquiry into Lands, supposedly to address Amerindian and freed African and other lands, is as ill advised as it is troubling.

I am astonished at this action by the government for more reasons than one. This decision smacks of gross disrespect and disregard for the history and recent developments of Amerindian/Indigenous land rights in Guyana and indeed around the world.

It demonstrates a lack of understanding of the distinct nature of Amerindian lands, which is based on collective ownership, and more importantly, the relationship between Amerindians and land and the environment.

Most noteworthy is the disregard of the specific inclusion in Guyana’s Constitution regarding Amerindian/indigenous land rights (see Preamble “Value the special place in our nation of the indigenous people and recognise their right as citizens to land and security and to the promulgation of policies for their communities”; and, Articles 142, which provides the state with the power to take away land and provide it for the benefit of Amerindian communities, as well as Articles 149 and 212S) and several international instruments such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which Guyana endorsed.

Most importantly, it disregards the Amerindian Act of 2006 which clearly sets out a process of addressing Amerindian lands, and which, as mentioned before, has been used to do just that. It consequently, overrides the authority of the Minister responsible for Amerindian/Indigenous Affairs as stipulated in the Amerindian Act, in particular section VI, which details a process for addressing Amerindian land claims, both for communities without any legally recognized lands and those seeking extensions.

To add insult to injury and indeed in spectacular form, the regime established this Commission without any consultation with the elected representatives of the Amerindian vil-

lages in Guyana, and then, through various operatives sought to justify why Indigenous peoples land issues should be comingled with other land issues.

It might serve the public well to look at the recent history of addressing Amerindian land claims in Guyana. The PPP, even before taking office in 1992 had promised to address Amerindian land matters.

A policy was devised and put in place early in the 1990s. The lessons from the application of this policy were both positive and negative. By 2001, the PPP/C administration had approved a process of widespread consultation on a new Amerindian Act, to be led by the then Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues. The Amerindian land issue was one of the primary matters to be addressed in the new legislation.

Following more than three years of consultation across the length and breadth of Guyana, it was time to draft a new Act. By this time, the administration had garnered immense experience on the ground, through the application of the land policy which magnified the depth of the problem to be addressed.

In addition to the experiences garnered through the application of the Amerindian land policy, the recommendations that were made during the consultations for the new Act and a review of the 1969 Amerindian Lands Commission Report, made it clear that a process for addressing Amerindian lands had to be elevated from policy to law. This was the only way that Amerindian communities would be able to have their land rights addressed and protected through a process that is transparent and fair. They clearly recognised that policies, unlike law, can be changed at the whims and fancies of the Government. As we are witnessing now with the APNU+AFC Coalition government!

With a mandate from the Cabinet, the Minister of Amerindian Affairs and the legal team defined the eligibility criteria and a process for addressing Amerindian land claims. This also was placed under scrutiny by consultation with Amerindian communities, civil society and state agencies. The Bill was then submitted to Parliament and sent to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee where it was again examined in further detail inclusive of hearings with civil society. The Amerindian Act was unanimously approved in October 2006 with the inclusion of a provision that is considered to be the most advanced for addressing Amerindian land claims in the hemisphere.

Noteworthy is that Mr. Vincent Alexander, former PNC MP., and Dr. George Norton MP among other PNC opposition members, were on the aforementioned Parliamentary Special Select Committee. They supported the provisions that dealt with addressing Amerindian land claims. In fact, at no point did they call for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry or a Lands Commission which their party advocated during the lead up to the 2015 general and regional elections.

The first indication that Amerindian land rights would be questioned came from Presidential Adviser, Eric Phillips in March and April 2016 in a series of letters to the media.

The comment by the same Mr. Phillips, Ministerial Adviser, on April 4, 2017 at the UG/Carter Center forum on constitutional reform in response to Toshao Shuman’s comment on the Commission of Inquiry is instructive. He responded thus, “there can be no discussion on Amerindian lands that is not an integrated discussion on land as we are all Guyanese and why must there be a separate treatment of Amerindian lands”!! He let the “cat out of the bag”! There you have the government’s justification for the Commission of Inquiry!

The government has deliberately ignored the existence of the Amerindian Act and in particular, Section VI of the Amerindian Act. This section is dedicated to addressing granting of lands to Amerindian communities, those without land titles, and, also granting of extensions to those requesting additional lands. This is a very important section of the Act as it removed the need for any middle man (such as a Commission) from this process. It is the community/village that will interact directly with the Government and negotiate a mutually agreed settlement. It places the responsibility on the Government, through the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, to act. It is the Minister with responsibility for Amerindian/indigenous affairs that is given statutory responsibilities to protect their rights and is empowered to address land claims through the Amerindian Act

The present Minister, Fourth Vice President Mr. Sydney Allicock, MP, can meet with each community applying right now or those which have already applied and negotiate, albeit in consultation with other State agencies, as done in the past. If there are any controversies/difficulties these can be settled through the process laid out in the Amerindian Act. Any difficulties encountered from time to time have less to do with the Act itself and more to do with situations where land was previously given out for mining and forestry concessions, for example, which now conflict with a given community’s application for land. In short, there is no need for a Commission of Inquiry nor an Indigenous Lands Commission as the Act is adequate and has been used effectively and successfully with regards to Amerindian land rights.

One may, therefore, conclude, that it is either that the President has no confidence in his Fourth Vice President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs to deal with the land issues before him, or, the Minister’s authority has been taken away, or, the Minister has chosen to give up his authority.

In the light of the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry on Lands, actions of the government towards Amerindian land rights and rights since taking office, expose an objective which is sinister:-Within two months of taking office the government closed down the Amerindian Land Titling Unit, at the Office of the President, and terminated all the staff, this was allowed to go on for almost a year. Consequentially, pending demarcations and surveying also ground to a halt. No wonder those communities which applied for land or extensions prior to the 2015 general and regional elections are deeply worried, moreso in the light of the terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry.

-Funds designated to support the Amerindian Community Development Plans and projects approved under the Norwegian Agreement have been stymied over the last 23 months in violation of the said Agreement.

-In July 2015, the government terminated 1,972 Amerindian community service officers, the largest single termination of employees by the state since the early 1980s!

-The Hinterland Household Solar Electrification Project which provided solar units to 13,170 households in Amerindian communities has also been halted whilst 6,000 of these units purchased before the elections have been “redeployed” for use at the Ministry of the Presidency and State House.

-The OLTPF has been dismantled and the allocation of laptops for one hundred (100) ICT hubs in Amerindian communities has also fallen by the way side.

-The principal of “Free Prior and Informed Consent” enshrined in the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been honoured in the breach repeatedly as is the case with the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry on Lands, and, the one-shot meeting recently held on proposed amendments to the Amerindian Act in the capital city instead of in the communities with their elected councils in the regions as was done with the Amerindian Act.

With regards to the latter, one may rationally ask the Minister or any Cabinet member what are the amendments the government wishes to make to the Amerindian Act. What are the deficiencies it wishes to correct? I am confident that other than renaming it the “Indigenous” Act, they will have nothing to contribute.

The Amerindian Act stands in the way of a grander design of the government, and the Commission of Inquiry is its first manoeuvre.

The Parliamentary Opposition’s request to the Speaker for an Adjournment Motion on a Definite Matter of Urgent Public Importance to discuss the Commission and to call for its revocation on April 13, 2017 was considered “not urgent” although the Commission had already been appointed on March 10, 2017 with a deadline to report to the President by November, 2017. Again no surprise there, only one of four requests for such adjournment motions have been allowed by the Speaker !

The Parliamentary Opposition submitted another motion again calling for the revocation of the Commission of Inquiry on April 25, 2017. Alas, the motion was allowed by the Speaker but stripped of 9 clauses and one Be it resolve clause! It is listed on the Order paper in its amended version for the May 8th sitting.

If the government’s intentions are not sinister then why was this Commission set up in such a surreptitious manner? The government could not be so obtuse or power drunk to think that Guyanese would not recognise that this is an issue of such complexity and so fraught with controversy that it would risk social cohesion and national unity?

I hold to my opinion that the Commission of Inquiry on Lands, defined by its terms of reference, is a sinister move.

I stand in solidarity with the PPP/C, the National Toshaos Council and the Amerindian non-governmental organizations and communities in calling for the revocation of this Commission.

To be silent on this issue is to allow the government unfettered power to continue to reverse democratic gains made over the years, especially with regard to Amerindian land rights.

Like those citizens who are making their voices heard on the parking meters in Georgetown, VAT on education goods and services, the closure of sugar estates, on the ban on used tyres, to name the most recent, we must also let our voices be heard in opposition to this Commission of Inquiry.

Yours faithfully, Gail Teixeira, MP, PPP/C Chief Whip