Over 30 families affected by GLSC’s demarcation in Santa Rosa

Oct 04, 2017 News

The largest Amerindian Village, Santa Rosa, Region One, has over 30 families being affected currently by a demarcation made by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) in 2006.
This was a concern voiced by the Toshao, Sherwin Abrams, former Toshao and Senior Councillor of Karaburi, Basil Cornelius, and Councillor, Paul Atkinson, during a press conference Monday at the Amerindian Peoples’ Association.
The leaders of this village are of the firm belief that the GLSC has made a mistake and has not taken into consideration the 1976 Amerindian Act Description since they explained; they are endorsing the ‘natural boundaries’ in the areas bounded by the rivers.
The demarcation made 11 years ago is one that was reported but never resolved, explained the Toshao of the village. The boundaries that were made by GLSC have left five communities out of the perimeters of Santa Rosa. These were always part of the village; an island was even split because of the demarcation.

(From left) Councillor, Paul Atkinson, Toshao, Sherwin Abrams with Senior Councillor and former Toshao, Basil Cornelius

The leaders of this village fear the livelihood of its people being ruined, since some communities are now part of the Shell Beach protected area or other villages. This takes away the Amerindians way of life which includes farming and extraction in the protected area and operating generators among other important aspects.
They complained that residents within the areas are additionally uncertain about attending the community meetings and lack the sense of belonging and representation that they are comfortable with.
Toshao Sherwin Abrams said the matter was raised in a ‘fruitful’ meeting they had yesterday with the Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock, at the Ministry’s boardroom. According to him, the Minister said he has a small land team which is a present challenge.

Map of Santa Rosa
Key:
*Orange – Demarcation made by GLSC
*Green – The area the leaders claim is theirs
*Black – Creeks
*Yellow – Islands where people live and have been excluded out of the village
*brown – Roads

“We no longer sitting back and waiting; we are here confronting the issue. We’re not blaming the government, past or present. We are here to find a solution to the way forward,” he said.
“Moving in the direction to achieve what should have been achieved over a number of years because it’s more than a decade now Santa Rosa has these issues surrounding the boundaries.”
He added, “Land is very important to Amerindian people. Land is Amerindian peoples’ life. We depend on the land for so many different things. There is where we get our livelihood from.”
The team said they have proof that the village was wrongly demarcated due to the ‘haphazard’ method used by authorities.
Santa Rosa is currently home to 8000 people. In 2015, investigative teams visited the community from the Amerindian Land Titling committee and conducted an investigation in the Santa Rosa Village.
A visit was again made on August 16, last, where the reports of the investigation was handed over by the officials to the leaders of the village who did not approve.
The community currently has 11 villages and five of these are currently affected by the demarcation. They are Kamwatta, Cabora, Wallaba, Kumaka and Karaburi.

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