APA says Government can do better for Indigenous communities

Jul 18, 2020 News

– Redirects over $29.5M from their projects to fight COVID

Amerindian People’s Association (APA) head Jean La Rose, has indicated that the government of Guyana can do a much better job and personal protective equipment (PPE) in terms of handling the current pandemic in indigenous communities, and that the absence of adequate relief in indigenous communities has led the organization to redirect over $29.5 million received from different partners to help in the fight against COVID-19.
La Rose, in a video released on Wednesday, explained that several of the association’s projects were placed on hold since the pandemic, including their land titling project, their tenure facility project and demarcation projects, all of which involved complementary input to on-going government initiatives. With the advent of COVID-19 however, the high incidence of infection in indigenous communities, and the relative absence of government relief efforts, the APA’s priority was shifted to providing relief in communities affected. Permission was granted to use the funds raised for the on-hold projects to assist.
The organization has since made significant donations to villages country-wide, including food hampers and sanitization products. La Rose stated that there is a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the community health centres so donations have been made towards PPE relief. In addition to food and essential supplies, APA has also been assisting in effective communication measures in hinterland communities to spread awareness on the virus. Recently, for example, the APA donated fuel to power the health centre and radio stations in Orealla.
She also mentioned receiving funds from the Nia Tero Organization to support sanitization and PPEs for Region 7 and 8. Funds were also received from the Amazon Emergency Fund which was set up swiftly after the outbreak of the virus in the indigenous communities of South America. Regions 7 and 8 also received donations out of that funding.
La Rose said that the APA is trying to stretch these funds as much as they can to render help efficiently but the government needs to step up and pay more attention to these communities by providing basic but necessary assistance.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News