…say facing heavy debt, bankruptcy

THE cry of small-scale miners for adequate lands for mining seems to be falling on deaf ears as they have been awaiting word from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) since June 2016.

The miners have complained that while they await word from the GGMC on available, unworked lands, large-scale miners are being granted as many as 30 blocks to work in the country’s mining districts. “This is grossly unfair,” declared one miner as another demanded answers. “This is not the change we voted for…there was corruption under the previous administration…why are we being punished? The miner asked.

Desmond Hamer, a miner who operates in the Puruni backdam, Region 7 told Guyana Chronicle on Monday following a meeting with Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes that the situation is getting from bad to worse. He explained that many miners are on the verge of bankruptcy because of what he perceives to be favouritism. Hamer explained that alternatives are handed out to large-scale miners with the aim of “covering the real issue of allocating lands to the real people who need it for mining; it is corruption.”

“It is being given to people who already have blocks. They are paying to get the lands that are richer for mining; they are getting the better lands and we aren’t getting any,” he added. The frustrated miner said the system is unfair and called on Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman to address the issue with some level of urgency. “It is very unfair to small miners who are left with lands they can’t survive on… in fact we are not even getting lands,” said Hamer who said he was forced to park his dredge and excavator before the Christmas season as the lands at the Puruni backdam are all overworked.

“The big miners with money are paying up to $10M for alternative blocks…It is matter of greed…we really thought when we voted that corruption would have been reduced …very disappointed with the way things are going.”

Hamer added that the land he worked on at Puruni is land that was worked by Alfro Alphonso and noted that much mineral cannot be found on it. “You have to pay seven ounces to him a month and the place is not producing lots of gold because it was worked out. I haven’t started working for this year because it makes no sense to reinvest in the same area…I owe a lot of people including my 11 workers,” he explained. Like Hamer, Holberts Knights, also a miner in the Puruni area told Guyana Chronicle that with the price of gold dropping considerably from 2013 to present miners are not seeing “the concomitant level of efforts to cushion the fall in revenue for miners.”

GGMC too slow
He is concerned about the slothfulness of the GGMC to make lands available to small miners. “A lot of us are home not working because we don’t have anywhere to work…we know there are new lands to be opened and we are concerned about the pace at which they are being opened and made available.”
Knights pointed to the issue of new technology to assist miners in the recovery of mines; he said under the previous People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration, miners expected a “significant investment through GGMC in more efficient technology” to recover gold. He explained that with what is being used by miners currently, only 40 to 50 per cent of the gold is being trapped and this makes the process inefficient. “We were hoping by now there would be significant inroads with technology- ensure more gold is trapped and hence a profitable operation,” he added.

Echoing both Hamer and Knights was David Daniels who said he is on the verge of bankruptcy. He said he has been struggling to pay his bills for a long time and has been finding it difficult to take care of his family. The frustrated miner told Guyana Chronicle on Sunday while at a meeting with the Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes in Bartica that he wants the government, through GGMC, to put systems in place to ensure that small-scale miners are able to work.

“Lands should be made accessible and they should be affordable…Permission is not an easy thing to get from GGMC and you always hearing that the Commissioner has lots of files on his desk. Lands have not been given out in a long time; there used to be more lottery in the past,” said Daniels.

He continued: “All small miners want is land to work; we will work the lands and sell our gold to the gold board. Things are hard…everything is slow and not because of the world price…the most important thing is the land…right now is bankruptcy…some months I don’t even reach my mortgage.”

Ava Abrams, another miner said she closed her dredge off on or around December 20, but was unable to pay her staff. She explained that her equipment is stationed in the Puruni backdam and is being overlooked by security. “We don’t even have money to turn out back to work. Just have security there watching our things. We are not getting anywhere to work, not getting gold when you find land… it is really tight and I owe a lot of people and I can’t clear bills because I can’t work. I have my excavator and engine but just stall up there. I have to get my things out of the backdam but if I have nowhere to go,” she told Guyana Chronicle as she noted that this is the worst situation she has faced since she started mining 15 years ago.

Form syndicates
Meanwhile, Broomes told this newspaper that several small scale miners had approached her to relate their struggles. She said that as a former miner she empathises with them and noted that the problem is not one without solution. The minister said she is examining available lands for the miners to work but informed them that it was necessary for them to form a syndicate and apply to the GGMC to be able to work the land.

“They have formed themselves in syndicates and have complied and applied. The area they applied for is not owned it is with the state; it is favourable on their side. I encouraged them to go to the area and examine it.”
“I hope it is a gold bearing area and of course there would be no landlordism and bullyism,” she stated.

On the concerns raised by small miners about alternative blocks being given to medium and large scale miners, the Minister said she is against such action. “I was against it while the PPP was in government and I am against it now. It is an unfair system that is part of a larger scheme of corruption,” the minister said. Broomes noted that there are genuine miners who are in dire need of lands to work and although they would have applied they were not given preference. “Some of the miners take it (alternative blocks) as a business… this is big money business,” she declared adding that the time has come for there to be an investigation into the persons who are being granted alternatives and those who have been granted Power of Attorney for the said lands.
“The miners have approached me on the matter and I have asked them to speak with Minister Trotman because he deals with land and the closed areas committee; that is not within my ambit.” Attempts to contact Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman on Monday were unsuccessful as his mobile went unanswered.