Georgetown : The report of the select committee on the appointment of the members of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), and an accompanying Motion were unanimously approved in the National Assembly at its last sitting on Monday.
Chairperson of the select committee, APNU MP, Dr. George Norton said that a decision was made to increase the membership of the ERC from seven to 10 by adding a new grouping (cultural/ethnic group), which will have three nominees; one each representing the three main ethnic groups in Guyana. These include: Indo-Guyanese, Afro-Guyanese and Indigenous Guyanese.
The committee also agreed to place entities which fell under the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) under the three major religious bodies.
There will be one nominee each from the various entities: Hindu; Christian; Muslim; labour; women; youth and business; while the cultural/ethnic group will have three.
Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that for the first time there are certain basic eligibility requirements for the entities.
“We have worked long and hard…we have a mandate which is to ensure that once we have passed and endorsed this Motion, that we begin the work of having the members nominated and appointed so that the commission can begin the very important work that it was intended to do,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, Government’s Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira pointed out that having reached this stage in terms of reviving the ERC is a very significant achievement. She also called on the committee of appointments to address the other rights commissions, as well as the services commissions whose lives have expired.
