APA executing land tenure assessment for dialogue with Govt.

Mar 11, 2019 News

A final report on a Land Tenure Assessment Project for Region Seven (Cuyuni Mazaruni), executed by the Association of Padawong Amuk (APA) is earmarked to be released in April 2019.
It is one of the reports that should provide Indigenous communities with material to clarify their occupation, use and ownership of their land. It will also enable them to engage in dialogue with the government and other relevant agencies for drafting of legislation and other public policy that affect Indigenous communities.
The APA, which recently changed its name, has contended that many Indigenous communities have expressed concerns over not having title to the full extent of their traditional lands or no title at all, in some cases. Further, there have been complaints about poor demarcation, which has left out parts of the communities’ lands. This has reportedly resulted in the erosion of their customary land rights or causation of boundary conflicts with other neighbouring communities.
There are also problems with extractive activities such as mining and logging on community lands. Former President of the APA, Mario Hastings, said that the government is disregarding Indigenous land rights, in favour of profits gleaned from those extractive works. To ensure that Indigenous people are involved in dialogue and decision-making about their land rights, the (APA) has been working on Land Tenure Assessments, with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).
For the Region Seven project, preparatory activities began in 2017, with most of the field work being carried out in 2018. The report on this particular region is of significance because it will assist indigenous communities in the Upper Mazaruni area with their advocacy for the legal recognition of their traditional and ancestral lands. The organisation stated that it is urging the government to resolve longstanding land issues that indigenous communities have with the government and mining companies, particularly foreign companies. The APA is urging a quick resolution to the 20-year long litigation over traditional lands in the region, for the Arecuna and Akawaio tribes. It contends that there is a proliferation of roads and destructive mining across the region generating resource conflicts, water pollution, environmental damage, deforestation and social harm, and that government actions to address these problems are wholly inadequate or absent.
Land Tenure Assessment Projects have been concluded in Regions One, Two, and Eight, as well. Prior to the 2016, research studies were carried out to compile a report titled “Participatory Assessment of the Land Tenure Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana: Regions 1 and 2”. It was launched in December 2016, and copies of the document were distributed to villages that participated in the activity. For Region Eight, Land Tenure Assessment Work began in late 2015, continued through 2016, and concluded in 2017. That report, titled “Our Land, Our Life: A Participatory Assessment of the Land Tenure Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana – Report For Region 8”, was launched in May 2018.
Executive Director of the APA, Jean La Rose, informed this publication that the next region the APA intends to include in its Land Tenure Assessment Research is Region Nine.

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