AG – Govt not interfering, trying to control Toshaos Conference

The government of the day is not interfering or controlling the proceedings of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference which wrapped up on Friday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall S.C made this disclosure. Nandlall speaking on his weekly programme “Issues in the News”, disclosed that this is a baseless accusation that is being levelled by letter writers, and opposition politicians.

The minister pointed out that the intention is to cause a distraction and take the public’s attention away from the progress made by government officials, mostly the ministers in addressing the issues and concerns of the Amerindian leaders. The AG insisted that it was his Government that successfully piloted the historic Amerindian Act of 1996 in the National Assembly, and fought for Amerindian Rights.

Nandlall noted that the government has allowed the Toshaos unprecedented access to its entire Cabinet, and the President, Irfaan Ali.“We are not interfering. We are there to facilitate…help the Amerindian communities to address their various issues, yet as we try to do that, we face the accusation that we are attempting to take over and control the conference. [It’s] nothing of the sort,” the Legal Affairs Minister said.

The minister stressed that the government ministers’ only intention is to dialogue with the leaders, and listen to their respective concerns with the aim of dealing with each issue. The AG pointed out that the Government decided to hold the conference this year as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic was under control, and the economy was fully reopened.  Nandlall explained that if the government did not have the conference or participate in the proceedings, then the public would be hearing a different tune from the letter writers and opposition politicians.  The minister disclosed also that there would be accusations that his government neglected the leaders or worse, they abandoned the Amerindians.

The Attorney General argued, “So, whether you do or don’t you get blame.”  Meanwhile, Minister Nandlall revealed that he is glad the Toshaos know better than to worry with the propogandists and intellectual authors of the opposition campaign.  The minister stressed that Amerindians were so badly treated by the APNU/AFC Administration not so long ago that they are very happy with the return of the PPP/C Administration. The legal affairs minister pointed out that the APNU+AFC Administration had treated the Indigenous Peoples at “arm’s-length”.

“The people used to leave the government’s NTC, and come to the leader of the opposition’s office to engage with us. The reason why, because they never felt comfortable. They were never treated with dignity and respect…and that is why they voted for us…,” Nandlall noted.     Minister Nandlall pointed to the gamut of investments made by the various PPP/C Administrations, but not before he mentioned those made by the current Administration.

“We have spent since we have gone into government from August, 2020 to now, over $50B in Amerindian communities…You can do a comparative analysis with any given two-year period under the previous administration, and you will see that we have spent many times more than that government would have spent,” he advised. The legal affairs minister promised that the government would never sit down in Georgetown and make laws for the Amerindians without first consulting them.

Nandlall addressed the Amerindians’ issues that included the many disputes with miners, land and demarcation, and other legal matters. He revealed that the NTC brings together Amerindian leaders from over 212 hinterland communities across the country. It’s a platform where the leaders can engage the government and other stakeholders on issues pertaining to the development of their communities.

Additionally, this year, the conference was held under the theme, “Good Governance and Fast-Tracking Amerindian Development”. The minister added that there were presentations and discussions held related to Agriculture, Tourism, Amerindian development, Crime and Security, Natural Resources, the Low Carbon Development Strategy, and Social Services, among others.