The government is also announcing that Oscar Requena, the Minister of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Labour, and Local Government, is currently leading a Belizean delegation to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
As viewers will remember, the government announced 4 days ago that Prime Minister John Briceno made a 4-day visit to Guyana at the invitation of Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, the Guyanese President.
That joint statement from last Friday noted that Belizean officials would be visiting Guyana for an exchange of ideas and to learn from their experiences. Well, Minister Oscar Reguena and his delegation are doing just that. They are there to learn from the experiences of their Guyanese counterparts in promoting the rights and development of indigenous people through the implementation of legal mechanisms and community development policies.
Requena is being accompanied by his CEO, Valentino Shal, Tanya Santos, the CEO of the Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous Peoples' Affairs; and Gregory Ch'oc, Commissioner of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs.
They are meeting with government ministries and remote community leaders in interactive sessions to discuss successes, challenges, and opportunities experienced since the adoption of their Amerindian Act. The delegation has met with Pauline Sukhai, the Minister of Amerindian Affairs; Collin Croal, the Minister of Housing and Water; Nigel Dharamlall, the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development; and Joseph Hamilton and Hon. Dr. Vindhya Persaud to discuss development programs and policies implemented by the Government of Guyana in rural indigenous communities.
Minister Requena and his delegation also had interactive discussions with villagers of the remote communities of St. Ignatius and Mainstay to discuss their experience with managing their indigenous lands, running their village councils, and engaging in community development activities. The delegation is also attending the National Toshoas Conference, which gives Amerindian leaders a platform to directly address the president and government ministers on development and rights issues.
The Belizean Government considers these engagements very important in their ongoing implementation of the 2015 Consent Order from the Caribbean Court of Justice.
