Dear Editor,
I write to highlight about the pollution and disgustingly destructive mining that is occurring in District #5, a part of the Barama River.
Most of all, this mining operation is taking place between the Yakishuru Creek and the Ianna Creek where there is a mining station not far away at the Ianna Creek mouth where the officers seem to turn a blind eye but where it is affecting us in the indigenous communities.
Editor, I have lived here since I was born and for all the decades we depended on the river’s water as part of our daily lives, this is the worst I have ever seen.
The overburden from mining operations thrown in the Barama River is unbelievable. It may seem as exaggerating but the overburden is about 300 feet long and it makes for hard passage by boats plying this route. Witnessing this continuously and seeing the hardship the captains have to go through, one might be compelled to ask, ‘Do the mines officers really visit these areas?’
Well, they do and about two to three weeks ago one left here. I asked one of the boat captains in the area what the mines officer said about when he complained and like me, it falls on deaf ears.
The villagers cannot compete with the dredge owners because they pay fat and the villagers cannot and it seems the mines officers don’t have any power over them.
The same way the penalty is given to some dredge owners for pollution and the illegal acts, I believe it is time to revise the same for the mines officers who are sent to overlook but report no illegal action, yet there is evidence to the contrary. I have never heard of a mines officer being fined or being jailed but, I believe, that they are equally accountable for not reporting what is happening and taking bribes to keep silent.
Editor, my fear is that the pollution will cause sick breakouts throughout the areas these creeks feed into. And when the mines officers return to their homes in the cities with running potable water, the indigenous people of the Amerindian villages here are left to face whatever consequences of their inaction.
I am asking, through the Stabroek News, if you can please highlight this problem for us villagers and pleading with the relevant authorities to get more serious with the officers they send out. Maybe they can include images and videos in their reports.
Us villagers are also calling on other citizens that if you see things like this getting out of hand, please, please find those in authority and report it, be it your Chiefs or any other village Chief or someone that would take you seriously.
Sincerely,
Patrick Allen