Georgetown : Amerindians from various Regions and communities came out last eveing today united in front of the Parliament building to protest against Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan’s proposed cut of $300M from the supplementary funds, earmarked for the provision of projects and programmes for Amerindian development.
Members of the Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG) and staff of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs stood with placards giving reason why their funding should not be cut. Some of the placards read ‘AFC & APNU will no longer get our support’ and ‘We demand development just like any other Guyanese’.
Peter Persaud of TAAMOG said that the AFC’s action was a great disrespect to Amerindians. They deserve development as much as other Guyanese citizens and the opposition seem to think differently, he stated.
He added that under the current administration, there has been a lot of development in Amerindian communities after many years of neglect and now the opposition wants to take that away, and they will not allow that.
Late Wednesday, Ramjattan filed a motion in parliament to cut $300M from Financial paper number 3, for the Amerindian Development Fund (ADF). This money was allocated to fund the provision of transportation, health care and education. Amerindian children have to walk or paddle miles to get to school or access healthcare, and the allocation was intended to ease the strain on the country’s indigenous people.
When the financial papers came up yesterday for debate and approval, the AFC did indeed vote against the funding, however, the allocation was passed after most of the APNU members abstained from voting.
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