Dear Editor,
I am a resident of Micobie Amerindian village which is located in Lower Potaro, Tumatumari, Region No 8. In Micobie there is a lawless, rogue miner from Georgetown who is illegally plundering our mineral resources in full view of the mines officers of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
Before our community was given its land title by President Bharrat Jagdeo, the GGMC issued mining permits to miners to conduct gold mining activities in or near our community. When the Micobie Amerindian Community received its land title in March 2006 many of the mining claims fell within the boundaries of our village, and became part of village lands. It is important for miners to know that if they are issued with a permit by the GGMC to conduct mining activities on village lands the matter does not rest there. The miner would then have to seek the official consent of the village through a village general meeting. This is what the GGMC does not appear to be telling miners, who are generally under the false impression that once the GGMC gives them a mining permit for small and medium-scale mining, so be it.
It is therefore my view that the GGMC should tell miners or write it on the permit that the permit is invalid without the consent of the village in cases where mining is to be done on titled Amerindian village lands.
This excludes large-scale mining.
In the Micobie Amerindian Village all the miners with the exception of one have complied with the directives of our village council. This rogue miner who appears to have friends in the GGMC is conducting gold-mining activities on our village lands without the consent of our village. This is illegal and contravenes the provisions on mining in the Amerindian Act 2006 (Section 48(1).
But while it is the consensus that the miner in question should be removed from our village, the GGMC continues to accept payments for his claims for the year 2008. How can this be? Our community received its land title in March 2006 and the mining claims paid for are now village lands.
What is even more of a problem is that the District Mines Officer imposed a cease-work order on the miners that are respectful to our village council, while the rogue miner has been allowed to plunder our mineral resources. The other miners have their families to feed and have invested large sums of money in their mining activities. The rogue miner does not pay a tribute to the village council, while the other miners do.
It is also my view that the GGMC is being disrespectful to presidential orders since it is the President of Guyana who gave us legal ownership for our lands to manage in the best interest of our people and not to allow any rogue miner to plunder and deplete our mineral resources without giving the Micobie village a black cent.
The rogue miner is presently destroying our environment in his mining activities without any intervention by the GGMC to stop him, despite our many complaints. The village of Micobie has over three hundred residents who are dependent on subsistence agriculture, while our menfolk are dependent on cash from mining to purchase clothes and other basic things that we need. With the imposition of a cease-work order on all the miners with the exception of the rogue miner, the menfolk are unable to earn cash to fend for their families.
I am therefore appealing to His Excellency the President and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds for their urgent intervention to take the necessary corrective action to bring relief to the Micobie villagers.
Yours faithfully,
Joan Hendricks
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Commissioner (ag) of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Mr William Woolford for any comments he may wish to make.