Reports of “nuggets of gold” being found around the remote Region Nine community of Para Bara have sent residents in surrounding communities in a frenzy with many heading or making plans to trek to the forested area, according to reports from the region.
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is sending a team to investigate the reports, an official at the agency’s office in Lethem told Stabroek News. The team leaves today, Michael Abraham said. He said that over the past week, several persons had gone into the GGMC’s office to inquire about the reported finds.
The Amerindian community of Para Bara is one of the more remote communities in Guyana and is located along the biodiversity-rich Kuyuwini River. It is close to the Marudi Mountains where mining is currently ongoing. Another area in the Deep South Rupununi where mining is currently ongoing is Wakadanawa.
Kuyuwini as an area where mining is taking place is “completely unknown”, Abraham said. “We never heard of any mining or anything (in that area). It’s completely unknown to us”, he said. Persons from the area told Stabroek News that “nuggets” and “slivers” of gold have been found in that area recently sparking a “gold shout”.
In August, toshao of Para Bara, Ekufa Mewsha, told Stabroek News in an interview that he was concerned about the threat of mining, flooding and the land title for his community. “My main concern is the land title,” Mewsha had said. He had said that his community had applied for title to the lands that they had occupied since 2000 but he is yet to hear anything significant about the application. Mewsha said every time he enquired at the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, he is told that it is under consideration.
The toshao had said that obtaining the title to the land is of paramount importance since he fears the incursion of logging and mining companies on the community lands. The Marudi mines are about 10 miles from the village and as such he was particularly concerned about safeguarding the land resources for future generations. According to Mewsha, the Amerindian Act stipulates that in order to process a land title application a village must have 150 residents. Para Bara has 132 residents. “How can I get help as quickly as possible?” he had asked. “We can’t wait, we have a right to the land.”
He had said that another concern for the community was that its young men have been frequenting the mining area and returning to the community with marijuana. He had said this is helping to fuel the increasing incidents of substance abuse among youth, both male and female.
