Final document for Land and Life Commission to be completed soon

GINA, GUYANA, Monday, February 20, 2017

Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock has confirmed that Government is working to complete the final draft document for the Land and Life Commission. This commission will address issues of land extension in indigenous communities and ancestral lands in coastal communities.

In November 2016, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon handed over the Lands Commission draft document to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and other stakeholders including, the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, and the Guyana Forestry Commission, which are all  to play an integral role in this process.

During an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), today, Minister Allicock said that the document is almost complete, and it is anticipated that final draft will be ready shortly.

Minister Allicock said that the commission will especially address several issues related to lands in indigenous communities. “It is the settlement of the indigenous peoples’ land rights. What we have come across is that a number of communities are overlapping and have conflict with other groups, which have not been properly thought out and it is coming back to haunt some people and we need to get those things cleared,” Minister Allicock explained.

Under the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), approximately $165 million has been allocated in 2017 for the advancing of the remaining identified areas for land titling.

Over the past year, almost 1,000 square kilometres of land have been demarcated in Regions One, Seven, and Eight.

 

By: Synieka Thorne