-regional chairman
Regional Chairman of Region One Fermin Singh has said that his administration had received a letter from residents in the Barama River complaining about the mining activities of at least two dredges, just about a month before the September 5 shooting in the area that left one man dead and another seriously injured.
Singh told Stabroek News on Monday that his administration had received a letter signed by residents of the Kariaco and Chinese Landing villages, located on the Barama River, complaining about mining activities in the area. He said he forwarded the letter to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) for an investigation to be launched into the allegations and the regional administration also sent in the Regional Executive Officer (REO) to speak to the affected residents. “I can’t say what actions the GGMC took because we have not heard back anything and while I know the REO spoke to the residents, I don’ t have a full briefing,” Singh told Stabroek News, while adding that the administration has heard of the shooting incident but have no real information.
Commissioner of GGMC William Woolford could not be contacted yesterday.
Singh said that among other things, the letter indicated that some of the miners were not adhering to the residents’ requests and they made reference to at least two dredges.
On September 5, Regerton Simon, called ‘Baba,’ of Guyhoc Park, was killed on the spot while Malvin Edwards, 33, of East La Penitence, was badly injured when gunmen launched a brazen attack on the dredge. Four Brazilian workers, including a pregnant woman, managed to escape without injury. Stabroek News understands that at least one of the Brazilians gave a statement to the police through an interpreter.
Initial reports were that the incident may have stemmed from a conflict between the miners and residents. But with the arrest of two residents of Matthews Ridge, sources indicated that the incident could have been the result of more than the conflict. The two men, who are still in custody, were reportedly seen in the area on the day of the shooting but left shortly after the incident.
Threat
Meanwhile, part owner of the dredge Shawn Hopkinson told Stabroek News that the miners were threatened by at least one resident of Bamboo Landing, the closest settlement to their dredge days before the incident. He said that a mines officer had gone into the area to investigate the residents’ complaints about water pollution and found that the allegations were false. “He told the mines officers that if they can’t take any action then they would have to take their own actions,” Hopkinson told Stabroek News. He said that this was uttered in his presence.
Following this incident, Hopkinson said, they made a decision to move the dredge some distance away from the village, even though their mining activities were not affecting the villagers.
And Hopkinson said that they would not return to the area until they get “some kind of justice,” while adding that they have been in contact with the Brazilians who have indicated their willingness to continue to work for them.
According to Regional Chairman Singh, some of the miners do mine directly in the river but “inland”. However, because the area is hilly, whenever it rains the material would wash down into the river and affect residents. Because the water flows in one direction, Singh explained, villages miles away from the mining location can be affected.
He said because the owners of the two dredges would have had to receive permission from GGMC, the commission had a responsibility to ensure that residents would not have been affected by the miners’ activities.
A source had told this newspaper on Sunday that indeed like several other villages, the residents in an area referred to as ‘Punta’, the village nearest to the shooting incident, had a problem with the dredge as its activities were polluting the river, their only source of water. “You see, when they operating the dredge, if they close off in the night then you lucky to get some drinking water between three and four in the morning and if it ent close off then no water at all. That is how bad it is for villages where dredges operate,” the source said.
Stabroek News was told that in some areas dredge owners provide black tanks to villagers in an effort to assist them with the hardships their dredging activities caused.
Police last week had said robbery was ruled out as a reason for the shooting as nothing was stolen and that the production money and equipment were intact.
Last week, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud had said too that the police were focusing their investigation on a conflict between the residents in the area and those operating the dredge. Persaud had also said that the investigators were still “open” on the case but had said the dispute kept “showing up” as a motive.
This newspaper understands that during the last National Toshaos Conference in August, mining pollution in the Barama River area was raised by the community leaders, who had urged the authorities to address the matter. The residents in communities along the Barama River have been complaining to their respective toshaos about pollution since they depend a lot on fish and use the water in the river for household and personal purposes.
Meanwhile, Edwards’ mother Donna Hinds said he has now being moved to the “open ward” of the hospital and is doing much better but still has difficulty talking.
