Chenapau residents who were recently ordered removed from mining within the boundaries of the Kaieteur National Park by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Police Force will be relocated to other mining areas as part of government’s ‘humane stand’. So said Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat and Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukahi after a meeting they held with residents of Chenapau last Friday. A government team visited the Kaieteur National Park (KNP) and Chenapau, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).
“We took a humane stand [on this matter] and not a big stick approach because when we went in there… [we] discovered that it is only villagers from Chenapau and not coastlanders as was reported before…” Bharat said at a press conference. He admitted that indeed miners were operating in the park and said that this has to be addressed immediately along with having talks on alternative income for the villagers.
“What the GGMC will do, is they will go back next week, where they will do some amount of prospecting on village lands. And, be mindful that there is already mining going on the village land in an area that is known as S-bend… but it’s about two kilometres away from the park. So, it’s an area that has high prospects. A team will be going in to assist the village in exploration and we have also made a commitment in that meeting to have GGMC identify prospects a few blocks outside of the village land and outside of the park so that miners can also do mining in that area,” he added.
Bharrat said he suggested that all mining equipment be left at the camps until the other mining areas are ready.
It was also noted at the meeting that the Chenapau airstrip needs to be fixed to boost local tourism. The two ministers undertook to make representation in this respect. Bharrat said that the Guyana Forestry Commission will engage the community in forestry activities as another source of income.
Six years ago, two dozen villagers from the Chenapau community were accused of illegal mining in the Kaieteur National Park and a few weeks ago, protest actions erupted after villagers were yet again accused of illegal mining within the boundaries of the park. The protest came after the Chief Warden of the Park and GGMC accompanied by several police ranks, told the residents that they were mining within the park’s protected area and that they must leave or face legal consequences. According to the villagers, they were told that close to a dozen armed ranks were acting on behalf of the GGMC and the Ministry of Natural Resources. However, the villagers said they were mining in a buffer zone which was also marked as land to be used for mining in accordance with the Amerindian Act. The move against the miners angered the community, and in response, the villagers armed themselves with placards and called for the suspension of legal action as it would affect their livelihood.
In the wake of the protest, Stabroek News spoke to Toshao of Chenapau Standford John, who said that GGMC, the Chief Warden and police had called a meeting with the villagers and questioned them about their presence on the land without permission. John said that before the meeting was over the villagers announced their displeasure with the authorities’ line of questioning and walked out. According to John, the villagers found the meeting and questions from the authorities to be disrespectful. But soon after, the miners and equipment were removed from the land. John said the villagers were not breaking any laws and should have been allowed to continue their mining activities since they were working with the permission of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and on the authority of the Amerindian Act.
The toshao pointed out just a few months ago, the mining boundaries were clarified with the authorities. He accused the authorities of interfering with the villagers’ livelihoods and added that this was not the first time. He reminded that back in 2017, over two dozen miners were arrested for illegal mining and were later released without any charges. He stressed that the government was interfering with an activity that the village depends on for its survival. The toshao said he approved the protest as the villagers were only standing up for their rights.
