Government's continued focus on resolving Amerindian land issues
A GINA Feature by Candace Field
November 09, 2004
One of the many concerns of Amerindians in Guyana is the securing of land titles for their communities. The issue of land demarcation and land titling never fails to come to the fore at each meeting attended by Amerindians. They usually express their views on the issue, with many stating that land is important to them because of their unique way of life.
Government, since assuming office in 1992, placed the resolution of Amerindian land issues as a priority project.
"When Government took office, it was very much aware that the issue of land was something that needed to be addressed in an urgent way," Minister of Amerindian Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues told GINA recently.
A meeting was first held at Paramakatoi in Region Eight ( Potaro/ Siparuni) with Toshaos of various communities, where the issue was discussed and Government later formulated a policy to have all of the 74 titled Amerindian communities surveyed and demarcated.
The Minister noted that the communities had never been surveyed even though they had a description of what their lands should be. As such, boundaries were unknown. This made it difficult to resolve issues regarding intrusion by miners and loggers.
Government decided that the communities would be demarcated and later extensions to those communities would be considered, once requested by the villages. A decision was also made to have additional untitled communities granted legal titles.
The process began in 1995 but was not without hiccups. Several communities that had agreed to demarcation suddenly reversed their decision. The Minister pointed out that this was because of various reasons, including the fact that some communities did not understand the policy clearly, while others were influenced by outside forces. Some were told that demarcation meant that they would not be given extensions after demarcation and that Government would not address the issue of untitled areas or those with no legal ownership to their land.
By 2002, Government was successful in demarcating 36 of the 74 communities.
Later, it was recognised that demarcation was completed in a number of Regions. Those completed were Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 while Regions 1,7,8 and 9 were not.
Ms. Rodrigues explained that Government felt it was unfair for some Regions to wait on others that were still not decided on the issue. She also pointed out that though demarcation was not completed in Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9, work had begun on those areas, with some already surveyed.
As a result, Government altered its policy to deal with Amerindian communities on a Regional basis. This meant that when demarcation was completed in a Region, extensions would be addressed subsequently. This began between the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003. It resulted in a number of Amerindian villages "getting back on board", according to the Minister.
The change in the policy immediately saw Government dealing with Region Ten ( Upper Demerara/ Berbice) communities where there were 2 titled communities and 7 untitled ones. Cabinet then approved the titling of four of the seven untitled areas: Muritaro, Great Falls, Malali and Wiruni.
The communities are presently being surveyed and titles will then be issued. This is necessary to prevent discrepancies with written descriptions and what actually exists on the ground. Titles previously issued without surveys first being done created problems for the communities. Not knowing the boundaries of the areas, as stated before, made it difficult to deal with logging and mining encroachments on community lands.
Many of the communities are already using the area for the extraction of resources and Government hopes that the surveys in those areas would be completed in another two to three months. These communities could then be supplied with the legal documents.
The Minister reminded that two large communities, Konashen and Baramita in Region One (Barima/ Waini) were granted titles in 2004.
Minister Rodrigues also met with the nine Amerindian communities in Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam) that have completed demarcation to discuss the villages' requests for extensions if there were any.
However, the Minister observed that though her Ministry met with them at the end of 2002 and communities were supposed to have submitted their extension proposals by December 2003, they had not. She said only 2 communities had submitted their proposals by December 2004, one year later. Since then, the communities were written to and several others indicated their interest. The Minister met with them a second time to discuss the issue.
Rodrigues said she especially mentioned this because in several instances, when issues are not resolved, people feel that it is the Government that is dragging its feet on the issue, but that this is not so.
Issues surrounding land in Tapakuma and Orealla have already been sorted out, according to the Minister and late last year, 12 other communities have agreed to the demarcation process. Once the process is completed in those areas, it will make the number of demarcated villages 48.
In Region Seven (Cuyuni/ Mazaruni) Minister Rodrigues explained that the villages filed a Court Case and clearly stated that they wish to wait on the Courts to decide, even though Government indicated its willingness to negotiate and move forward. Meanwhile, in Region Eight, up to the beginning of 2004, no community had agreed to the process but three of them recently 'came on board'.
Due to the fact that Regions 1,7,8 and 9 are quite large, Government again altered its policy to address sub-regions that have completed demarcation .
" The communities in the Mabaruma sub region of Region One, except for one community, have completed demarcation", Rodrigues said. She explained that the same considerations would apply to Region Nine (Upper Takutu/ Upper Essequibo). This would also be done in Region Eight.
Noting that Government remains committed to the demarcation process, the Minister said demarcation can be accelerated but it calls for mutual cooperation. Her Ministry, as soon as it is given a go ahead by communities, will move to have the process implemented.
"I'm optimistic that we will have more communities receiving titles", she said, noting that 80 communities are legally recognised and this makes up eleven percent of the entire land space of Guyana.
"Some communities wanted tangible evidence and we've provided that", Minister Rodrigues confidently pointed out.
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