| Opposition Parliamentarians have called for more to be done to promote the interest of Afro-Guyanese, including enabling them to utilise their backlands for agriculture.Aubrey Norton, from the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), has urged action to be taken to promote the interest of Guyana of African descent within the framework of inter-ethnic equity.He was speaking in the context of the United Nations designation of this year as the International Year for People of African DescentNorton, during his contribution to the budget debate, claimed that the government voted against a Parliamentary motion promoting the rights of African Guyana to their ancestral lands.However, Gail Teixeira, Parliamentarian for the ruling PPP, said that the government did not vote against the motion. Rather, she said that the government amended the motion and it was passed by the National Assembly.That was cold comfort for Norton, who described the amended motion as a “dead fowl.”Addressing Speaker of the House, Norton said: “If I bring to you a fowl and you take out the belly and give me back, would you say it’s still a fowl? I would say it’s a dead fowl.”Now that the United Nations has recognised the rights of all people of African descent to their ancestral lands, he beseeched the House to promote and protect the rights of African Guyanese to their ancestral lands.“Mere lip service and the transformation of the year into the usual bringing of foreign artists to have our youth feting while their genuine political, economic and social interests are not addressed would not do,” Norton declared.He said he would have liked to see the 2011 Budget offer more in terms of drainage and irrigation that would enable African villages to utilise their backlands for agriculture.PNCR Member Deborah Backer also rapped the government on issues related to people of African descent, as she paid homage to them.“I am amazed that the Honourable Minister (of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh), in his three-hour presentation could not find one sentence to say one thing about that outstanding recognition that is due to people of African descent, as is due to many other ethnicities,” she said.Backer said that she was amazed that there is no allocation or subvention to any African organisation.However, she quipped that the PNCR expects, that in keeping with the ruling party’s way of doing things, there would be some “handout” during the year when the government would call in the media for photo opportunities.The government recently launched a year-long series of activities to mark the International Year for People of African Descent with President Bharrat Jagdeo promising that his government will remove obstacles to the development of people of African ancestry wherever these are found.Among the activities planned are visits by African cultural groups to Guyana and vice versa, diplomatic representation at the African Union, masquerade competitions, debating competitions, various fora including a caucus of African professionals and on ancestral lands, fashion displays, plays and dramas, food fairs, workshops on boat building and the coconut industry, the establishment of African leadership clubs for youths,Cheap Jerseys From China, and tours of villages bought by freed African slaves. |
