Members of the Isseneru village council on Monday met with Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai to address the continued operations of a mining company in the Mazaruni community that was issued with two cease work orders, but will have to await a court decision on the situation.
Members of the village council told the media last Friday that the mining company had disobeyed two cease work orders (CWOs) issued by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and has continued mining on titled lands without the council’s permission.
Lewis Larson told this newspaper on Tuesday that members of the council discussed the issue with the minister at her request, since she needed to confirm media reports on the situation. He said the minister expressed concern at reports which suggested that the ministry has not assisted the council in addressing mining issues there. Larson noted that as in the past, the council members expressed their frustrations to the minister on the issue and according to him she promised to assist but noted that the matter has been engaging the courts. As a result, Larson said the minister noted that her assistance may be limited by the pending court matter.
“We hope that our concerns are being addressed and even though we didn’t feel too happy at the end of the meeting we are still hoping for the best,” he said.
He said that the miner in question had filed an injunction in the courts recently, preventing the GGMC and the council from acting on the company’s permit to mine at Isseneru. The matter is expected to be heard again this week before Judge Diana Insanally.
The village captain, Dhannes Larson, and members of the council told a press briefing last Friday that the matter has engaged the authorities but to date no firm action has been take against the company. Stabroek News’ attempts to reach officials GGMC for a comment on the matter proved futile as newly installed GGMC Commissioner Karen Livan was reported to be unavailable.
According to the village council, on November 16 last year, the owners of the mining operation entered the Middle-Mazaruni community without the council’s permission. The company was informed by the council that under the Amerindian Act, it was required to seek its permission to mine in the area, as is stipulated in Section 48 of the Act, which applies to small and medium scale miners.
However, the miners paid no heed to the request and began working the following day, leading the council to complain to the GGMC officer stationed at Kurupung who travelled to the area to investigate the matter and issued a CWO to halt the operation. However, the councillors said the company continued working in the area the following day after the mines officer left.
According to the council, Toshao Larson and other members of the council travelled out of the area to the city and met their legal counsel, Livan, and the Chief Mines Officer on November 25, and discussed the situation. Subsequently, the council stated that the GGMC responded to the complaints on December 29, and mines officers from the city travelled to the area and issued another cease work order to the company.
The mining operation again stopped for a few days but activities there resumed early this month.
According to Toshao Larson, the miner has related that he has documentation to mine in the area given to him prior to the village being awarded its title in 2007.
The village has in the past experienced problems in which miners entered the area to mine on the lands without permission from the village council.
