Indigenous people in Guyana encouraged to recognise development during Amerindian Heritage Month
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| Published on Thursday, September 4, 2008 |
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By Kevin Lindon
Caribbean Net News Guyana Correspondent
Email: kevin@caribbeannetnews.com
GEORGETOWN, Guyana: The Ministry of Amerindians Affairs in Guyana on Monday launched the annual celebrations of Amerindian Heritage Month, which is being observed under the theme “Inspiring our nation to move forward in Unity”.
However, the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai noted that this year will see a toning down of the celebrations as a result of the deaths on Sunday of three students from the Upper Mazaruni community of Waramadong.
But Sukhai added that, despite the tragic deaths of the students, during this month of celebrations, Amerindians should attempt to be cognizant of all the developments and transformation that they have achieved over the years.
Sukhai said that the Amerindian Affairs Ministry, supported by key stakeholders, had worked hard over the years to reduce existing gaps and to improve the delivery of services to indigenous communities.
She added that the administration had allocated $50 million for the construction of a modern student hostel to accommodate scholarship students in Georgetown.
“The improvements in access to primary and secondary education in the hinterland regions, the increasing number of trained teachers, improved educational infrastructure, and material resources continues to improve the quality of education being delivered to schools in the Hinterland, which is a direct correlation to the better performance of our students,” the Minister said.
She also revealed that the last census showed that the population of Amerindians had increased. This, she noted, has been attributed to direct results in improved health care and access to services in the Hinterland areas.
She also said that the construction of the Lethem Hospital and the near-completion of the Mabaruma Hospital would improve the access of health services to many communities, adding that a number of communities have already benefited from solar powered electricity.
For this year, Sukhai said, the intention was to address the livelihood options and to focus on the further expansion of agriculture to support the food security drive for the communities.
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| Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo. AFP PHOTO |
Meanwhile, Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo in his feature address noted that during the hosting of Carifesta X, most Amerindian brothers and sisters had a sense of pride in sharing their talent with the rest of the world.
The president said that it cost the administration some $35 million to bring persons to the city and build the infrastructure at the sites.
“The money was not so important… It is the knowledge and showcasing the life of the people of this country and how rich we are in our diversity and how deep our culture is,” said Jagdeo. “So I think it was money well spent and if we had to do it over again we would do it the same way and maybe even better.”
Jagdeo highlighted Carolyn Rodrigues, former Minister of Amerindian Affairs and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, as an example to the indigenous people. He noted that this was the highest position an indigenous person had ever reached in Guyana, and that apart from being the first woman as the Foreign Affairs Minister of Guyana, Rodrigues was the youngest Foreign Minister of the country.
“And through the eyes of an indigenous woman and through her presentations around the world, Guyana’s policies are seen and explained,” Jagdeo said. “She takes all that we do in this land – our economic polices, our trade policies, our social policies – and presents them to the rest of the world and I think it is a great honour for our indigenous people,”
He also commended Sukhai’s performance as the new Amerindian Affairs Minister.
The Head of State said that he saw the commitment in the indigenous communities.
In some instances, the president said that this commitment put to shame the coastal people with schools close by with better facilities, but their children do not get the same kind of encouragement
“And I have remarked before how children paddle for miles to get to school, or walk across the savannahs, going to school miles away and they are encouraged by their parents,” Jagdeo said. | | | | Reads : 78 |
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