Dr. Jagdeo – 20 per cent of Guyana’s land for Amerindians

Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, said that 20 per cent of Guyana’s land should go to its
Amerindian peoples.
Jagdeo made this disclosure during a recent interview with the New York based Vice News. “If
you look at the land policy of the government, when we assumed office in 1992, indigenous
people had titled lands, about 6 per cent of Guyana. By the time we left office in 2015, we had
titled indigenous communities with land that amounted to over 14 per cent of Guyana… So, six
to 14 per cent. That is our track record,” Dr. Jagdeo said
He continued, “We believe that ultimately, about 20 per cent of Guyana, the total country, will
be Amerindian titled lands, and we’re in the process of ensuring that that happens, considering
our Amerindian population is probably about 10 per cent of the country.” The VP reminded that
Guyana is among some countries that have granted subsurface rights to Amerindian
communities.
“So they had rights over the forest but never the minerals below ground. So now they have
subsurface rights as part of the legislation that we passed,” Dr. Jagdeo said. The former
President noted that this gives communities the right and opportunity to live off the land and
utilise the resources, if they wish.
Jagdeo revealed that it is for those communities to decide whether they want to live a separate
way of life, or whether they want to integrate with the rest of society, and that the government
will support them no matter what. The former president was forced to defend the government’s
record against an allegation that there is a land related conflict between an Amerindian
community and miners. Jagdeo acknowledged that there may be individual issues arising on the
ground, adding that government will handle those as they come. However, he said that it is
important to look at the government’s policy record when judging its performance on
Amerindian issues.
“Now whether we’d have individual problems on the ground, in many communities, yes, it
happens in every country, but if you’re going to characterise a country’s treatment of indigenous
people based on the occasional problems you have all the time, and I don’t want to say that this
happened, but this typically happens when people come in from abroad and they interview, they
always try to make the country look, like, backwater,” he explained. Dr. Jagdeo said if anyone
wants to understand the developing world, they should immerse themselves to get the full
picture, instead of listening to one testimony and running with it.
The Vice President in addressing the PPP/C’s record in government on Amerindian issues,
declared that Guyana is among the most progressive countries in the world.