Written by Shirley Thomas
PRELIMINARY investigations into the death of four Brazilian miners who perished last Thursday while working in a mining pit at Arrau, Eteringbang, Region 7 have revealed that the men were not engaged in legal mining operations, but had entered Guyana illegally.

Officials are saying that the four Brazilian miners had entered Guyana through Venezuela, and had never sought to regularise their immigration status and seek mining permits, but were allowed to mine by the Amerindian village which has title for the lands, and by dredge owner Wendy Barbosa.

In a statement, the police have said that at around 17:55 hrs last Thursday, Brazilians Taigo Nunes Pinto, Ronaldo Da Silva Sousa, Joao Nelson Pinto Mands and Joao Gonsalves Martins, (addresses not stated) were mining in a pit about 30-40ft deep at Arau Backdam, Eteringbang, when it caved in and covered them. The bodies were air-dashed to the city and are currently at the Lyken Funeral Parlour.
Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Mr Robert Persaud, yesterday held a press conference at his Brickdam offices to update the media on this unfortunate incident.

PIT FAILURE
In a brief statement, acting Head of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Mr. Rickford Veiera, recalled that the Commission received a report last Friday that four persons working on a gold mining site owned by one Ms. Wendy Barbosa at Arrau Settlement had perished because of pit failure.
The Commissioner said his office immediately sent out a senior mining engineer and an occupational health and safety officer to investigate. However, because of the low level of the water in the Cuyuni River, they only arrived there yesterday morning.  And due to communication constraints also, the officers will begin investigations today, and update the Commission.

ILLEGAL ENTRY
“What we have so far,” Vieira emphasized, “is that those persons came through Venezuela and proceeded to Eteringbang, and investigations showed that they were not in possession of any valid work permit.”
He said that Ms. Wendy Barbosa was given permission to mine by the village, but added, “They have the authority to do that, since the lands were private lands.” Vieira recalled that his officials had visited the mining site under discussion just about three weeks ago, and had ordered those Brazilians out of the country. The Brazilians subsequently left, but apparently went back into the area after the GGMC team had left, the Commissioner said.
He expressed sadness at the loss of the lives, noting that, in any situation, when death occurs in any part of our country, it is always regrettable.
The minister said reports he had seen so far pointed to a number of issues of concern, namely: That the Arrau community is an Amerindian Village, and for all practical purposes, the GGMC has no direct purview in terms of dictating the types of operation and to determine what takes place there. Such responsibility and authority lie with the Village Council, as provided for under the Amerindian Act.

Minister Persaud said the administration is always hopeful that Village Councils, in granting permission, would ensure that:
* Persons operate in a safe environment and not use techniques that can jeopardise life, limb, and even property.

* Persons would have good legal status, meaning it should be established that they have entered into the country legally, and have the necessary permits, so they can operate as workers or in any other capacity.

Minister Persaud said the Natural Resources Ministry has developed mechanisms, and is working very closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs so they can expedite those applications.

For that reason, illegal persons have absolutely no excuse about being unable to get their permits. The minister has said that while he does not wish to rush to conclusions and make pronouncements at this time, the fact that those individuals under reference came via the Venezuelan border and did not even see it fit to have their status regularised, he considers disappointing. Further, they were allowed by both the dredge owner and community to operate.

Albeit, he said, an investigation is ongoing.

SPECIAL MINING PERMIT
The minister made it clear that the regulatory agency of the GGMC does not have any direct purview of the mining operations in titled Amerindian areas. He said a proposal was made at the end of the 2011 Amerindian Toshaos Council Meeting (in relation to mining permits) for titled Amerindian lands. Through the proposed mechanism, he said, Government could augment and help Amerindian communities to better manage mining operations. It is however hoped that the proposal would gain support of the various stakeholders.
Persaud emphasised that his ministry cannot impose the special mining permit requirement until they have the support of the Toshaos and the Amerindian communities themselves. These will have to take into consideration the types of mining;  provision for training; the provision of proper occupational health and safety practice, and that persons who are there can conduct themselves in a legal way, especially in terms of declaring gold and such minerals.

GOLD DECLARATION
The Guyana Gold Board is eminently concerned that, based on the number of dredges known to be operating in some locations, the gold being declared by those locations is a ‘mismatch’, the minister said.
For this reason, the administration is keen on having this ‘special mining permit’ the minister said, “not to dictate to the community, but (to) help the communities to better mine and manage their mineral resources, since we continue to have an issue in terms of dealing with it.”
Whilst regarding the recent incident as a tragedy, the minister nonetheless is of the view that the situation would certainly put the spotlight on these issues. He is hopeful that Government would have the support of all stakeholders to have these matters addressed.