Extension, land titles for eight Amerindian communities

Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai, said that three Amerindian communities will
receive land titles for the first time, while extensions will be granted to five other communities,
including the tourism-driven Lake Capoey, Region Two.
Sukhai, made the announcement while providing additional validation for the extension
applications, during a ministerial consultation with village members on Tuesday. She said that
the village applied for its extension in 2004 and by 2014 a full investigation was conducted to
ensure all legal matters were covered during that period. “In those investigations all the agencies
and commissions that were required to be part and parcel of the investigation were in attendance,
and at that time everything was in order,” she explained. She continued, “I know that we have
established the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) Unit once again as we are back in office, mid of
this year they have an approved work programme for eight communities to be titled- three for the
first time and five for extension and Capoey forms part of the extension.”

The Amerindian Affairs minister noted that a team from the ALT unit visited the community last
October to validate the investigation report provided earlier. “From their subsequent report, they
explained that there is no major significant encumbrance. The position of the village remains the
same and the area required or applied for remains the same,” Sukhai stressed. The minister
assured that the matter will be examined for a third time before the ministry takes another step.
“Land titling is one of the commitments that we campaigned on. We have in the past, in our
previous tenure in office, significantly moved forward on titling of lands for Amerindians and in
this period in our first term, we intend to address land titling again,” she noted.
Minister Sukhai said that President Irfaan Ali-led Administration has made good on its promise
to resuscitate the ALT project with a proposed 2021 budgetary allocation of $630 million. The
Minister had said the functioning unit of the project which began in 2013 was disbanded by her
predecessor. She added that the ALT project allows Amerindians to secure their lands and
natural resources with a view towards sustainable, social and economic development.