Min. Allicock holds fruitful discussions with NTC Executive.

Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock addressed several concerns raised by the Executive of the National Toshao’s Council (NTC) on March 26 while attending the body’s statutory meeting at the Hadfield Street location.

Among the issues addressed was the current political situation in Guyana; Village Improvement Plans; the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) programme; the roles and responsibilities of the National Toshao’s Council and individual Toshao’s, National Security and Strengthening the Amerindian Act and Gun Licensing.

Minister Allicock said following the decision handed down on March 22, by the Court of Appeal, that the No-Confidence Motion was invalidly passed, Guyanese and the people of the Caribbean are aware the Government of Guyana is legally in place and that the 2019 work programme for the respective ministries and agencies will be executed.

Responding to a question on a proposal put forward to the body by President David Granger in 2018, for the NTC to acquire a larger plot of land to build its Secretariat, Minister Allicock replied in the affirmative and the body will immediately resume discussions on the way forward.

The NTC is expected to present a draft of the design for the Secretariat and Minister Allicock encouraged the body to fast track the process.

He also noted that the Council has completed its annual work plan and reminded that the Village Improvement Plans being formulated by the respective villages must be executed so that communities can experience greater benefits.

“The VIP’s will allow you to have a better understanding of land management, management of the community resources in the best possible way and this is what is needed for us to be able to realise our dreams’, the Minister explained.

$20Million was approved for the NTC for 2019 a twenty-five percent increase from 2018. Minister Allicock noted that while the Government would like to provide a further increase, he reminded that such increases would come from taxes received which have to be dispersed throughout all the sectors.

He encouraged village leaders to “create opportunities for businesses, let your villagers get into business this is what we have to be doing because the future looks very good because of our natural resources. You have to be organised so that the returns can come in, ensuring that financial resources are available in your coffers, and that is why we must have this plan.”

The leaders were also encouraged to ensure their respective villages fully participate in the Revision of the Amerindian Act and “I’m hoping that communities and villages will continue to discuss and understand as much as possible about the Act.  As I said from the beginning when we came into office, many Toshao’s had requested that we destroy the Act and draft a new one and a number of ideas came forth, but we believe that a lot of work was put into that Act to get it where it was and is and what we saw most importantly, was that there is a need to build on it, strengthen the Act and that is where you come in to help in that process,” the Minister said.

He also addressed complaints received from several villages regarding the conduct of some Toshaos. The Minister said “We have heard from residents who have criticised the behaviour of some of their village leaders – not listening to their villagers, utilising monies, not consulting with residents and abusing their authority – this is unacceptable. We do not want to go down that path and we need to fix this before it becomes worse. You have authority in your hands, but you are not alone. It is about communal power or collective power so we need to look at that and correct that.”

Minister Allicock advised the Executive to engage the individual Toshaos on a regular basis and to establish a body specifically designed to adequately address concerns emanating from the villages.

The Executive was also invited to make representation on behalf of their respective villages at the Government’s Public Outreach scheduled for this Wednesday, March 27 at the Square of the Revolution beginning from 9:00hrs.

Alethea Grant.

Communications Officer.

Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs.