With the continued invasion of miners into its community and no relief in sight, the Region One indigenous village of Chinese Landing has renewed its appeal to the government to take action and halt all mining on its titled lands.
Between September 25, 1998, and September 26, 2001, four mining permits were issued to Wayne Vieira, a businessman from Houston, East Bank Demerara, to mine in the Tassawini area in the village.
Chinese Landing, a Carib indigenous community, is located along the Barama River in the Barima-Waini region and it received its land title in 1976 under then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham. The village received its Certificate of Title on August 10, 2018, for 30.06 square miles or 19,241 acres of land.
Since the granting of the permits to Vieira, the community has been engaged in battle with him to preserve the rights of its residents. The gold-rich Tassawini area located in the village is currently occupied by about 500 miners.
The situation in Chinese Landing is currently one of economic deprivation. The residents there receive no benefits from Vieira’s operations since it does not employ locals and support community businesses. The residents are also threatened and intimidated by the workers there.
Vieira continues to operate without an agreement and the miners working his concessions are continually breaching the requirements of the Amerindian Act. The Amerindian Act expressly states that entry into indigenous communities must be approved by the Village Council, yet the miners operating there refuse to adhere to the law and would intimidate the Council members when they object.
Following an order by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) for him to cease operations, Vieira approached the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after the Court of Appeal ruled that a November 26, 2010, cease work order (CWO) was valid. He filed the appeal to the CCJ in 2017 and the judgment was delivered on December 7 of the same year in his favour.
It is important to note that the Village Council of Chinese Landing was never a part of the proceedings rather it was GGMC and Vieira –contrary to a Ministry of Natural Resources statement on the issue.
Stabroek News visited the community back in August and the destruction was quite evident. The main mining pit is at unsafe depths and mercury is being released into the waterways.
Since then the GGMC and Ministry of Natural Resources have been meeting with the Village Coun-cil but have taken no action against the errant miners.
The most recent meeting occurred on November 8, 2022, where Toshao Orin Fernandes reported that the situation remains the same. Fernandes told Stabroek News that villagers are still prevented from accessing their lands while miners continue to invade and destroy.
“We had a Mr Simon from [Ministry of] Natural Resources and he visited the community last week and had a meeting with the Village Council. They didn’t tell us anything positive relating to our land and what they are committed to do to help us, they just listened to our complaints and they say they will try their best to see what they could do.
“…they were trying to like let us come to the table with the miners and negotiate with them. We tell them plainly that that’s not our intention ’cause we don’t have peace in our community and we cannot traverse our community. So coming to the table now at this point when they have done all of those things to us in our community, we think it is not a good idea and that should have been done in the first place and not now,” the village leader said.
Areas of concern
Additionally, the Village Council also wrote the Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat outlining their areas of concern. The letter, delivered to the Minis-try on Tuesday, called on the Minister to enforce the laws.
The Chinese Landing Village Council highlighted that it has been embroiled in a serious pre-dicament that has been created, sustained, and even facilitated by the actions and inaction of the Government of Guyana. It noted that one of the foremost concerns is the immediate threats of violence to the residents of Chinese Landing at the hands of miners and security guards in the employ of Vieira. The Village Council pointed out that the miners and guards carry high-powered firearms within the boundaries of the village, despite the fact that village residents pose no threat of violence to them and have, on multiple occasions, brandished weapons at villagers, held them at gunpoint and otherwise used their firearms to threaten and intimidate.
“These threats have caused villagers to be afraid to leave their houses; others have been forced to abandon their homes and farms merely to keep their families safe. The MNR’s representative at the meeting on 8 November in-formed us that we should make complaints and reports to the police about these matters. This answer is unsatisfactory for at least two reasons. First, we already have made complaints to the police regarding violent acts perpetrated by Mr Vieira’s agents, and nothing has changed. Second, police officers are often the culprits of the harassment against our community. These officers routinely collude with Mr Vieira’s agents. How can we be expected to petition for redress from the very people who harm us?” the Village Council questioned.
It also reminded that the same issue of intimidation was also raised with the President at the National Toshaos Conference.
The Village Council also reminded the Minister of the pronouncements made by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) on the situation in Chinese Landing. UN CERD has since proposed consideration be given to suspending or revoking the mining concessions that affect the lands, territories or resources of the Chinese Landing indigenous peoples until free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is granted by the indigenous peoples; refraining from approving projects and granting mining permits or concessions within the lands of indigenous peoples, whether titled or not; ensuring that Indigenous Peoples have access to effective and prompt judicial and other remedies to seek protection for their rights; preventing and investigating incidents of threats and violence against residents of the Chinese Landing indigenous community by miners and by members of the Guyanese Police Force; incorporating the principle of FPIC in domestic legislation, including by amending the Amerindian Act of 2006, with indigenous peoples’ participation, and to fully and adequately guarantee the right to consultation of indigenous peoples; and considering ratifying ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169).
“The Chinese Landing Village Council, therefore, asked representatives of the MNR what the Ministry will do to restore Chinese Landing’s enjoyment of the land rights that the Government of Guyana has recognized since 1976. The Village Council also asked what, at a minimum, the Ministry will do to ensure that residents of the village can live and move about on their land, and access all of our lands, without fearing for their safety,” the letter said.
The Village Council also informed the Minister that the miners are engaged in the use of unsafe and unsustainable mining practices with reckless disregard for the damage they cause to the environment and community. It pointed out that despite repeated requests, the EPA has failed to conduct mercury testing in and around the village.
In the past residents have had to receive medical treatment for higher-than-normal levels of mercury in their bodies.
The total acreage of all four of Vieira’s concessions is at least 3457 acres and according to the Village Council that would qualify it as a large-scale operation. They pointed out that the Environmental Protection Act requires all miners to do an Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and get an environmental permit to mine and called on the EPA to have an ESIA done before any further mining activities take place.
“This is particularly so as in the past year, mining activities have escalated significantly in Tassawini. We have seen double the amount of large-scale equipment entering the area this year and it appears that the area being cleared for mining activities is growing,” the letter informed.
Just last year, the High Court also dismissed a challenge brought by the community against Vieira. That judgment is currently being appealed. After the dismissal of the case, the Chinese Landing Village Council approached the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) and complained about a number of violations under the Amerindian Act. The Council had submitted that these violations are being perpetuated by both the government and miners, who were granted permission to operate on titled, customary and sacred lands within their communities.
