Residents of Hururu, Upper Berbice River, Region 10, yesterday continued to block access to the Rusal-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) mining site at Kwakwani, saying the company was ignoring their demands.
Fed up with how negotiations were going over rental fees and a proposal to block them from accessing a logging area slated to be a mining site, about 100 persons from the 600-plus Amerindian reservation took to protesting on Sunday. They blocked the access road to the Kwakwani site with logs and a tractor and also the waterfront to prevent boats from landing.
Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon yesterday said the villagers’ concerns would be on his agenda when he meets Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Robert Persaud tomorrow on issues across the region.
“The protest is still on and we will protest until we have to… The company hasn’t sent anyone and, although we called, the Minister of Amerindian Affairs has not sent anyone. Nobody did not even call. She is representing Amerindians and we are not hearing from her,” a resident of Hururu told Stabroek News via phone yesterday.
Toshao Winsbert Benjamin told this newspaper that he called the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs yesterday morning to arrange to have officials of that ministry speak to residents so that an amicable resolution could be worked out. Up to late yesterday evening, he said that there had been no return call although the Region 10 Chairman had sent two councillors from Linden.
Benjamin informed that despite his pleas with residents to wait until a meeting was held before continuing the protest, they remained adamant in their stance that they want $12 million per month rentals and lower electricity bills from Rusal.
“They say they are not looking after nothing less than what they ask for… They want free light bill plus the $12 million,” he said.
When Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai was asked for comment on the issue, she offered a terse response—“the council is not part of the protest”—walked away.
One resident had told Stabroek News that they decided to protest because they are of the opinion that the captain and councillors are not properly representing them in the engagements with Rusal.
According to the resident, the community is a reservation and over the years Rusal has been paying the village about $1.2 million per month for use of a road to get to its mining site but almost all the money goes back into paying for electricity that the company provides. At the same time, the residents said, other communities, such as Ituni and Kwakwani, pay a minimal sum.
However, the issue that has raised the ire of the residents relates to a deal that was inked several years ago which gives Rusal the right to mine in an area known as 7 Miles. The company has since demarcated the area and has signalled that it will stop residents from accessing the area. This has not met with the approval of the residents since the area is ready for logging and the community is heavily dependent on logging for its livelihood.
The company also wants to lease around 320 acres of land from the village and is proposing to pay $3.7 million per month for use of the road to transport bauxite to the waterfront.
This proposal was rejected by the residents, who are demanding $12 million a month for use of the land as they say Rusal is making millions of dollars and would be cutting its monthly expenses by a large margin due to the use of the land.
However, Benjamin said that the $3.7 million that is being proposed for the monthly rental of the land was worked out by the council and the company with the Amerindian Affairs Ministry.
He stated that at a meeting, Minister Sukhai indicated that in keeping with international norms, the land should be rented by acreage.
Further, when this was calculated, the company would only pay $250,000 a month for the 320 acres. The council then highlighted that the company pays much more than that-$1.2 million- for use of a smaller piece of land and it was then worked out that $3.7 million would be an acceptable price.
Meanwhile, Solomon told Stabroek News last evening that he had been scheduled to meet Persaud this morning, however that meeting has been rescheduled to tomorrow to facilitate the minister.
Solomon said when the meeting takes place, the issue of mutual benefits for Region 10 residents and its investors will be highlighted. He said that recently, four issues had been raised by residents in various parts of region pertaining to investors meeting their contractual obligations in social and environmental issues.
This, he explained, is reason for concern and he has prepared not only recommendations but pertinent questions that need answers with regard to several communities. “The region has recognised the cries of residents, especially in the area of natural resources. The region continues to be alarmed that companies are not giving into residents’ requests and that most times the residents themselves are not benefiting from the massive distribution of their lands.
Communities are expressing that they are not being represented by government based on the fact that obligations pertaining to their social and environmental interests are not honoured by companies… you have Bai Shan Lin, Rusal, Bosai and the issue with the Ituni loggers, to name a few,” he said.
