THE Mahdia-Konawaruk Small Miners Forest and Agricultural Producers Association members are complaining that bullyism and lack of representation are taking a toll on small operators.
According to President of the Association, Garfield Wintz, small miners were recently granted an area of land by the Government to carry out their mining activities, but when they visited the area, a large-scale operation was occupying the land.

Wintz noted that they were unable to carry out examination of the land as they were scared off by men with firearms.
“When we went to see our land, we saw equipment there and men working,” another member of the association, William Joseph, claimed.
“When we went in, the men there chased us off the land and fired like about 40 rounds in the air.”
Having commenced mining activities on this land allocated to the small miners, the “big miner” bargained with some of the small miners to give a “percentage” of the gold mined, even though the small miners have not started to mine the land.

On December 21, contracts for mining concessions for small and medium miners were renewed and were signed between the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) and the Ministries of Finance and Natural resources.
Wintz said these concessions will not benefit the small and medium-scale miners, but the larger miners who are a part of the GGDMA or otherwise associated.
“What we want is a levelled playing field, where the small miners and the bigger miners are treated the same,” Wintz said, but added: “We will not benefit from these concessions, because I don’t see how the concessions will trickle through the big miners and come to us.”
Wintz highlighted that there are some 150 small miners in the area who are often bullied by the larger miners, because of the influence of money and nepotism.

Despite their woes, the members of the delegation from the association expressed gratitude to the Government for allocating lands to small miners.
They singled out Natural Resources Ministers Simona Broomes and Raphael Trotman for their commitment to the small miners and hoped that they would fix their plight.
The Mahdia-Konawaruk Small Miners Forest and Agricultural Producers Association was formed in August 2016 to allow for the adequate representation of the small miners in the area.
Wintz also explained that the association has received approval to begin its operations and is currently awaiting certification.