Controversy brews between gov’t, AFC over “stranded” Warraus Indians in Georgetown

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 December 2024, 21:13 by Writer

Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes said his party has rescued 50 Warrau Indigenous Indians, including very young children, from outside a city supermarket, sparking off a controversy between his party and the government over whether President Irfaan Ali had told them to travel to Georgetown for assistance.

Mr Hughes posted a video of a segment of a conversation, with a man whose face was hidden, claiming that Dr Ali had informed him that he and the others should come to the capital city for assistance but none was provided during their eight-hour long wait. “They pooled their resources travelled to Georgetown only to be left stranded in Church Street. We are providing support and are currently working on accommodation tonight (Monday),” the AFC Leader said.

Though the unidentified man showed Mr Hughes a picture of himself and the President having a conversation and claimed that the Guyanese leader had invited the Warraus to journey to the city for assistance, President Ali accused the AFC of being dishonest in an effort to score cheap political points. “The dishonesty of the AFC holds no bounds or boundaries…This is the behaviour of desperate political actors who care nothing about the facts and or the truth,” he said on his Facebook page.

The President’s Aide-de-camp, Lt Col. Earl Edghill refuted the AFC’s claims that Dr Ali invited persons to visit him in Georgetown while on a visit to the interior last week Thursday. “At no point in time did the President or anyone associated with the President invite anyone to Georgetown,” he said. The military officer recalled that on Friday a group of persons, who claimed to be from Essequibo, arrived at State House on Friday, saying that Dr Ali instructed that they travel to the city. Mr Edghill said the President instructed him to provide humanitarian assistance “as he never invited or encouraged them to come to Georgetown. He said the group of persons was taken to the One Guyana kitchen opposite State House where 30 persons, including 15 children ranging from newborn to nine years old, received meals and hampers. He said a Guyana Defence Force (GDF) bus subsequently transported them to Parika where they were provided dinner, accommodation, breakfast and financial assistance.

The Aide-de-camp expressed his disgust that the same persons were back in Georgetown. “It is appalling to now hear and see tat the sane set of individuals are in town making outlandish claims. I feel as though our assistance has been wasted and we are being targeted without cause,” he said.

Government Minister, Kwame McCoy, according to a short segment of a video on Mr Hughes’ Facebook page, visited the scene and took images with his phone of those who were present and departed but not before remarking that “Nigel Hughes and the AFC said he’ll help them”.

The President and his ministers have been on a relentless election-type campaign in several Amerindian villages pointing to achievements and successes under the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic, while Mr Hughes has been visiting a number of those communities to listen to the plight of residents and highlight their conditions.