Presenters share possible solutions on bridging ethnic division

Dec 15, 2020 News

ERC’s national conversation on improving race relations…

Some of the panelists at the ERC discussion yesterday.

Kaieteur News – Presenters at the opening session of the Ethnic Relations Commission’s (ERC) virtually hosted two-day national conversation on improving ethnic relations, have made several proposals on the solution to bridge racial division.
The conversations, which kick started yesterday under the theme: “How can we improve ethnic relations in Guyana,” was streamed via selected radio and television stations as well as on various social media platforms. Particularly, the ERC’s Facebook page saw participation from a number of prominent Guyanese of varied ethnic and political affiliations.
Among those sharing their views on the topic, were Opposition leader, Joseph Harmon; prominent attorney-at-law and former Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC) party, Nigel Hughes; Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Liberty and Justice Party Leader, Lenox Shuman; Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Executive Member, Dr. David Hinds; newspaper columnist, Ravi Dev; local communications specialist, Kit Nascimento; Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr. Paloma Mohamed-Martin; former Speaker of the National Assembly and leader of A New and United Guyana (ANUG) party, Ralph Ramkarran; and businesswoman, Renata Chuck-A–Sang.
United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Mikiko Tanaka, also made a presentation at the opening of the UN-supported initiative.
During the discussions, the panelist held the overarching view that reforms to Guyana’s legislative and institutional framework is needed to address the current struggle over racial division.
In his address, Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, called for a structured approach to building harmonious race relations in Guyana.
“We should start first, by looking at the system built by slavery and indentureship and the unequal opportunities thereby presented to our fore parents and handed down to us.”
Harmon noted that the blame lies at the feet of the “colonial masters.”
He posited that this type of systematic racism practiced in Guyana in the pre-independence era that have trickled down to this generation has had a direct impact on governance and the management of State entities.
At the time, the Opposition Leader was referring to the post elections dismissal of over 1,000 workers by the new government.
“We must also see as critical, the need to incentivize inclusivity and tolerance and dis-incentivize intolerance and discrimination,” Harmon said.
The opposition leader also addressed the need for the ERC to be held to a higher standard. “It disappointing for us, as Guyanese, to note that there were insensitive statements made by a current commissioner, which recently served to fan the flames of ethnic disharmony…We cannot tolerate that type of behaviour… Since we are striving for greater social cohesion in our society, our commissioners will have to be held to a higher standard of accountability – this is an absolute necessity,” the Opposition Leader stressed pointing to an incident involving ERC commissioner, Roshan Khan.
In her remarks, Chuck-A -Sang who shed light on the issues faced by persons of Chinese descent in Guyana, called on the government to adopt an action plan that will address the issues of racial tension.
Chuck-A-Sang noted that while there are provisions in law to address ethnic and other types of discrimination, these are rarely used.
“I can point to at least three pieces of legislation that address the problem, the Racial Hostility Act, the Prevention and Discrimination Act and a paragraph in the Constitution that tackles racism, but there is no evidence that these laws have been effective in dealing with racial discrimination,” the panelist said, adding that it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that the legal provisions are enforceable.
“…Because in my view we all belong to one race and that is the human race. Yes, we may have our ethnic differences but we must remember and be reminded that what we have more in common is more than which differentiates us,” she added.
Meanwhile, in his presentation, Attorney Nigel Hughes, called for more accurate national data on the topic of race and ethnicity.
Hughes said it was critical before the commencement of any rational discussion on equal opportunity is possible.
According to the lawyer, collecting, analyzing, and publishing data on the economic, social, and political indicators on race and ethnicity must be forthcoming.
The two-day event is intended to generate a national conversation to capture the views and recommendations on the topic. Presenters drawn from Guyanese residing here and abroad will reflect diversity.
As such, Guyanese social media users are urged to access the links from the ERC Facebook page to follow and participate in the inaugural conversation on improving ethnic relations in Guyana. The event continues today and will start at 9:00 hrs. and culminate at 13:00 hrs.
Additionally, television viewers can watch the programme on TVG Channel 28, HBTV Channel 9 and HGPTV Channel 67. Radio listeners can tune in to Newstalk Radio 103.1FM which will live stream the conversation on both days.
The link can also be accessed by visiting the News Source Guyana and Gordon Moseley’s Facebook pages.