The Amerindian Peoples Association speaks out against Minister Dharamlall “tirade”

The Amerindian Peoples Association [APA] in a statement said it has taken note of Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamall’s recent outburst on his Facebook page where he levelled a series of misrepresentations against the APA, a continuation of his previous assault on the organisation.

“In his social media tirade, Minister Dharamlall accused the APA of being politically aligned with and funding the Opposition, People’s National Congress [PNC]. He further went on to wrongfully state that the APA is seeking to block indigenous communities from receiving ‘…billions of dollars in development funds from the Carbon Credit Facility.'”

The APA says the organisation wishes to take this opportunity to remind the Honourable Minister of the dangers of making unsubstantiated claims as well as the ethical guidelines and code of conduct his position demands.

“We further take this opportunity to reiterate that the APA is a democratic organisation and is aware that many of its members and executives support various political parties including that of the Minister. We also seek to remind Minister Dharamlall that the Constitution of Guyana affords every citizen the right to participate in the political process. That being said, the APA remains a politically neutral organisation with the main objective of advocating for and defending the rights of indigenous peoples in Guyana.”

The APA says the body wishes to remind the Minister that the organisation has a responsibility to monitor the policies and decisions that particularly affect the lives of indigenous peoples in Guyana.

“It is a responsibility we take seriously and will continue to do so to ensure that indigenous peoples are accurately informed of their rights and that such rights are respected.”

Therefore, the APA says, the body “reiterates its call for the government to uphold the tenets of free, prior and informed consent [FPIC] when engaging indigenous communities. We have noted numerous instances of the violation of FPIC standards by the government with the latest being the consultation process for the sale of carbon credits.

“The Minister should be aware that the Amerindian Act of 2006 identifies the Village General Meeting as the decision-making body for indigenous communities and as such, villages should be afforded the opportunity to properly scrutinize policies, agreements and other decisions before signing on to them.

The organisation says it is aware that over the weekend, the government summoned Toshaos to Georgetown saying that they must walk with documents to set up bank accounts to facilitate the transfer of monies from the carbon credits agreement.

“The Toshaos were not informed of the amount of money they will be receiving and how that will be governed. Again, the actions of the government indicate that there is very little regard for the FPIC process which is a slap in the face of indigenous peoples in Guyana.

“The APA welcomes assistance to indigenous communities since they need better infrastructure for health, education and other services. However, we are calling on the government to engage indigenous peoples in a more structured way and not foist its decisions on them. We reiterate that the APA is not blocking villages from accessing governmental support but is calling for the administration to respect the FPIC principles.”

The APA says it also calls on the Minister to desist on his campaign of misinformation on the organisation.