The disruption of gold mining operations in Campbelltown, in Region Eight, is beginning to affect the livelihoods of residents who depend on mining as their main source of income, according to Toshao Marbel Thomas.
Mining operations in the community were halted on October 20th by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) after an inspection revealed that mining operations were unsafe. This has resulted in some residents petitioning to remove the Toshao and the village council, while accusing them of only allowing family members and foreigners to mine in the area.
Last month, a petition signed by over 130 residents was given to the Minister of Amerindian Affairs (MoAA) Pauline Sukhai, who promised to have the matter resolved in early November and stated that mining operations will not resume until an investigation into the council is completed. However, according to Thomas, the investigations has not yet commenced and she is unsure when it will begin. She recalled that they had met with the minister two weeks ago and requested to see the petition so they could respond to the allegations made. She said Sukhai told the council that the ministry was yet to form a committee that will be tasked with conducting the investigation and it would be up to that body to decide whether the village council should see the allegations in the petition.
“From then to now we have not heard from the Ministry concerning the formation of the committee and any other thing so we are still awaiting. We cannot respond to the petition if we have not seen it and I told her that I do not have an issue with the petition and anybody can make the petition and I don’t have an issue with the investigation as I prefer the law to take its course,” Thomas added before saying that Sukhai never met with residents of Campbelltown in the community but rather, she met with a few persons from the community at Mahdia during a visit.
With residents getting their main source of income from the mines, Thomas said that they village council had approached the GGMC Commissioner and presented him with a plan to address the safety issues so that mining operations can resume as quickly as possible once the investigations have concluded.
She noted that residents of the community have been cooperating with the village council and she had communicated to them that the commissioner is worried about the high number of persons working in the mining pits at the same time. “He is not satisfied because a big crowd of persons goes into the mining pits at the same time and he says anything can happen,” she said before noting that he described the situation as chaotic and confusing and very unsafe.
As a result, she said the village council has devised a plan which will allow for mining operations to resume. She said they have constructed checkpoints and security huts close to the mining areas so that the number of persons going into the pits will be monitored and there will be no overcrowding. She said the construction of these checkpoints will be finished today and so now all they just have to wait for a response for GGMC.
Thomas said that while they have been doing everything they can to prepare for the resumption of mining operations safely, residents are now feeling the full impact of not being able to get money to sustain themselves.
“Everybody is affected. All of the residents here that were working and benefitting from gold production is affected by the stoppage of mining from then to now and I was reporting to commissioner that my residents are complaining a lot and they have been working along with us to get the area prepared for a better reporting and monitoring system and daily functioning of the area. However, they are complaining more now saying that the finances have gone low. Christmas is coming and school has reopened and this is a hard time for everybody,” she said.
Added to that, Thomas said that the community is also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and this is putting more strain on many residents. She said that many people were pinning their hopes on receiving the COVID-19 cash grant but a lot of families were told that they are not on the list. She said that they were told they would not get any because she did not submit their names to the persons in charge of distributing the grant in Region Eight but she was never asked to submit names for the grant.
The indigenous community of more than 900 persons has recorded at least a dozen case of COVID-19 inclusive of one death.
