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Minister Sukhai enlightens Region 7 residents on LCDS, land demarcation - during outreach

Georgetown, GINA, October 29, 2011
Source - GINA

Waramadong Secondary School students get a pep talk by Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai

The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs on its continuous outreach to the hinterland regions visited several communities in Region Seven on a four day trip and held meetings with residents in the various communities.

Minster of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai and other officials from the Ministry and the National Toshaos Council (NTC) met with residents of Waramadong, Jawalla, Kako, Warawatta and Kamarang during the most recent outreach on October 25 to 28.

At the meetings common issues were raised in relation to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), land demarcation and other pertinent issues regarding community development.

These three Region Seven residents deeply engrossed in a Hinterland Highlight Newspaper

The Minister explained what the LCDS is about and told them that the decision is up to them whether or not they want to be part of the strategy. This, she said, is a demonstration of democracy which is practiced by Government.

Minister Sukhai at the various meetings reiterated that over the years Government has been constant it its support towards the social and economic development of Amerindians through increased access to services being provided to all Guyanese. Amerindians today are integrally involved in the country’s national development and are benefiting from several initiatives that are aimed at bettering their lives.

Region Seven residents at one of the meeting s with Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai and team

These include the annual presidential grants, school feeding and uniform programmes, community development plans and unserved areas electrification programme, hinterland road programmes and land demarcation. Soon 11,000 households are to benefit from solar home systems.

NTC Executive and Toshao of Annai, Michael Williams pointed out some of the developments which he has observed in the various communities and also enlightened the various meetings about some of the initiatives that his community has embarked on to propel development such as the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) programme at the community level with support from the Guyana Forestry Commission and Iwokrama. He encouraged residents to consider engaging in such programmes.

Meanwhile NTC Chair Yvonne Pearson pointed out that Guyana is one of the few countries in the world where indigenous people’s rights to land are recognized. She further assured that Government is committed to funding land demarcation for Amerindian communities and providing for the Amerindian Development Fund.


Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai, Chairperson NTC Yvonne Pearson and other officials at one of the meetings in Region Seven

This, she said, would serve to boost economic development in those communities. She encouraged them to move forward, together, to develop their communities.

Minister Sukhai also commended the work of the NTC under the leadership of Pearson which she said has brought tremendous growth to the council.


Jawalla children, beneficiaries of Government’s school uniform and feeding programmes

“Their (the leadership’s) experience has brought heightened activity in the progress of the NTC,” she said.

She further alluded to the Amerindian and Mining and the Forestry Acts which have served to advance the cause of Amerindians in Guyana and to protect their rights while granting them several privileges in these areas.


Jawalla children partaking in Government’s school feeding programme

Some of the residents expressed the need for secondary schools to be built in their communities, however, Region Seven has two secondary schools, Bartica that was built at a cost of $395M and the Waramadong Secondary. The latter will be extended to cater to the growing school population.

Two of the communities visited requested boats and ATVs.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

The title of this thread aptly captures the psychology of this relationship. For the uneducated morons here who support the corrupt PPP, let me spoon feed you the reality. This is like Cortez telling Montezuma what are the limits of his kingdom.

Guyana, the state reflects on founding documents, the historicity of the state. We know how it was consolidated from the colonials. Well, the colonials met native people and our people hood is defined by those very founding documents for the state of Guyana.

The minister cannot enlighten anyone. The minister has to reflect on the founding documents and consult with the people's representatives as the concurrence of interpretations. We bothe are enlightened by the documents. Absent that it is theft.

The dear minister has lost the half of her that is of the spirit people. We are culturally and spiritually tied to our lands. Stripped of it we are noting but wards of alien invaders not cultural equals. The pictures above tells the story well. We are not co partners. We are the precipitants of charity and listeners to enlighten creed about who we are from people who came to our land and and see us as an infestation to be controlled.

I want to repeat it again so all will understand how unfair this is. When the Venezuelans claim the Essequibo region, they claim it on the merit of documents. We refute their claims likewise. Our case about what Guyana is rests not on what they tell us is ours but what the merit of interpretations of documents tell us is ours. We sit down and debate that as equals with representatives on both sides. The venezuelans do not enlighten us. Minister is speaking not with the voice of her spirit side but with voice of her enslaved and dominated side. Her allegience is not to us but to the PPP. She should be discussing this with a committee of elected tribal representatives not coming in with handpicked agents of the government to "enlighten" is.

Show the pictures of how we are "fed" "housed and "clothed" and then the message comes out that the government is "doing" something for us. Alas, the government is doing what an invading creed always do, taking more than they ought to and justifying it as the "give" a lot for it. In the end, native peoples are always robbed, culturally assimilated or killed.
FM
quote:
Originally posted by D2:

Show the pictures of how we are "fed" "housed and "clothed" and then the message comes out that the government is "doing" something for us. .

what more pic u want the lst pic shows clearly how ure fed a plate of white rice with lil dhall and the kids look satiifed and happy too.
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Inqubus:
quote:
Originally posted by D2:

Show the pictures of how we are "fed" "housed and "clothed" and then the message comes out that the government is "doing" something for us. .

what more pic u want the lst pic shows clearly how ure fed a plate of white rice with lil dhall and the kids look satiifed and happy too.
So why were you complaining about "coolies" on another thread? Missing your portion of dhal and rice hand out?

The point I make is the Government cannot "give" what is already of the people. I cannot "enlighten"; it can interpret jointly what is the status of the land. The government are custodians not overlords. The PPP is in the habit of presenting themselves as the path not only to righteousness but to salvation. They do not see themselves as agents of a people elected to work in ways such that decisions are informed by active inclusion of information from the polity. The are the all knowing!

These pictures of our children eating and the insinuation that it is government subsidy do us a disservice. It sets up the condition to make us wards of the state, a dispossessed, marginalized people.

We are not presented anywhere by this government as equals. We are in the prevailing racist paradigm that caused even the "educated" minister to claim she is a proud "buck" women. She accepted the historical baggage and calumny heaped upon the word and captured by it as her proud legacy.

When others call us "bucks" and in their ignorance laced it with their contempt, we therefore lose the option to complain because a minister "proudly" accepts for us that identity. That woman cut us badly. She left a deep philosophical wound for us to contend with.
FM

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