Head of the National Mining Syndicate Cheryl Williams on Tuesday renewed a call for government and the responsible authorities to fix the Puruni Road, in Region Seven, while saying that she was forced to close her mining operations for two weeks due to its poor state.
Speaking at a press conference, Williams contended that the road has deteriorated significantly over the last few months after being neglected for over a year and a half. “As a result of the deplorable state of the road, miners, who have no choice but to utilise it to access their mining blocks and camps, have been injured and in some cases died,” she said.
The road, which runs from Itaballi through Papishao, is the only entrance and exit to various sections of the Cuyuni-Mazaruni district and Williams said because of its condition, most miners struggle to transport supplies that are vital to keeping their operations afloat. “I had to shut down my operations for over two weeks because I can’t get the fuel. I buy fuel from a supplier in Puruni and the truck took forever to reach with the fuel,” she said.
Williams explained that in December, a miner who was traveling to Puruni was forced to exit his vehicle in order to walk a section of the road since the vehicle was damaged. As a result, while walking, the miner had an accident and suffered a broken leg. He was subsequently rushed to Bartica and then transported to Georgetown for medical attention.
“On February 1st, 2019, a cook, who was traveling to the Puruni mining district, was held up for three days on the said road. The woman unfortunately was unable to take care of herself, hygiene or otherwise. On the fourth day, the woman managed to exit the vehicle she was stranded in to urinate and upon her return to the vehicle died,” Williams added. She explained that if the road is not addressed, then overall mineral production and declaration will be reduced significantly, which she said would be an extremely sad situation considering that gold and diamond mining remains a consistent revenue earner for the country and greatly contributes to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“We are pleading once again with the government, the Ministry of Infrastructure, [and] the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission [GGMC] to fix the Puruni Road and rid miners of the trials currently faced to access mining areas,” she said, while questioning the purpose of miners paying taxes and royalties if they cannot receive the benefit of a “decent road to access our mining properties.”
Williams further explained that when the road is impassable, persons are forced to take the more expensive and dangerous route, the river.
She also voiced her concern that miners might have to return to the old days when they would spend days walking along the lengthy trail to reach their operations or be forced to travel via the Mazaruni River “and sleeping on rocks.” “There have been so many changes in the mining sector over the years. Advances in technology and improvements in the way mining is done. There is some level of structure and organisation too. It is time that miners are respected. Our lives matter too,” she said.
‘Ill-equipped’
Although she did not identify the firm, Williams also said the contractor that has been tasked with repairing the Puruni Road appears ill-equipped to do so. “There is no progress. We are calling on the committee which selects contractors to repair roads to be mindful in their selection process,” she said, while explaining that the last time she personally visited the area was in December last year and there was heavy duty equipment present along the road but no work was being done.
When asked whether the syndicate has reached out to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, the GGMC or the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Williams noted that on Monday they would have communicated with the latter and was told that it would look into the situation.
“I am sitting on the board of directors for GGMC and the road is being discussed all the time but I don’t know what’s preventing progress. I think it is bad selection of the contractors because if the contractor that was selected was somebody who got the miners at heart they would’ve gotten the required equipment to get the road done,” she added.
Williams said if there are no signs of progress, then the syndicate will have to hold a meeting with its members and make a decision on the way forward. “The National Mining Syndicate Inc. is the voice of miners; a gender-neutral body which seeks to ensure a level playing field while protecting the human rights of all miners as well as protecting the environment which they work,” she added.
The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has also made several calls to the government for urgent repair works to the road.
