By Alva Solomon
REGIONAL Chairman Gordon Bradford believes that a well should be drilled in the community of Karrau in Region Seven, to provide the community with “safe” potable water.

At the same time, the village council is calling on the authorities to close a mining operation which is polluting a creek passing through that Amerindian community.

COMMUNITY CONCERN
Currently, a gold miner is operating in two blocks of land near the village council’s boundaries, one of which overlaps the buffer zone located off the perimeter of the village lands.

Toshao Bertille Thomas told this newspaper yesterday from Karrau that if the walls of three dams which were constructed by the village near the operation cracks, the situation will increase in severity. “It is a community concern,” Thomas said.

Thomas explained that the village received its title in 2007, while the miner applied and was granted permission by the authorities to mine in two blocks near the village lands in 2013. He said the miner was permitted to operate in an area where the village had demarcated its lands for extension.

“There is a ravine which is a branch of the Karrau Creek, and so water passes through the ravine and enters the creek,” he explained. He said that persons live directly along the creek’s banks, while others live close by.
The miner’s operations extend to the ravine, which is located approximately 500 metres from the creek; and this, he noted, is causing the problem.

He said residents are of the opinion that water from the operations is leaking into the creek.

Thomas said that his deputy, Marlon Cozier, went to assist the miner in building up the land near his operations. He explained that Cozier operates an excavator, and he managed to build up the banks of three tailings ponds by constructing three dams near the mining operations.

He said that Cozier was trying to cushion the problem, since the council believed “the tailings from the operations were escaping into the creek each time the miner does a ‘wash-down’.”

The villagers were, however, of the opinion that Cozier was working on behalf of the miner, and the man subsequently moved his machine away from the area.

According to Thomas, the miner is in communication with the village, and he has tried to correct the situation which was first noticed last September.

USE OF MERCURY
He said mercury is used by the miners in the area, and residents are concerned that this could create health problems for the village population.

“The best solution to the issue is for the Government to close this operation; so we are asking them to act in this direction,” Thomas said.

He said that the issue was reported to the authorities, and letters were written to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and copied to the Ministry of the Presidency as well as to the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs.

Two officers from the mining commission visited Karrau last Monday to inspect the waterway, but they informed the miner that he can continue mining. “They told him that he can continue mining, but what happened is that the water is polluted over a two-to-four-day period, so sometimes the colour goes back to normal,” Thomas explained.

‘HEAVILY POLLUTED’
Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford visited the area recently at the request of the village, and he described the situation as being “very serious,” given the “heavily polluted” state of the waterway.

“I was on site, and from what I can tell, the life and health of people there are threatened,” Bradford told this newspaper from Bartica. He said he has since informed Junior Minister of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, as well as Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings. Both public officials promised to address the issue.

“That creek is polluted. I recommended that a well be dug to ensure that they have potable water,” Bradford noted. He said he believes the creek is permanently damaged, and sediment may be lying at the bed of the waterway.

The Karrau Village Council met with the community two Sundays ago. The villagers demanded that the village council increase its action towards finding a solution. At the meeting, the council was notified of the sections of the Amerindian Act which addressed entry and access to village lands, and some residents called on the council to prevent the claim-holder from passing through village lands.

However, Thomas told residents, the village will have to tread carefully on the issue, since the claim-holder has threatened to take legal action against the council.

The village alleges that the council was not notified by the mining authorities regarding the issuance of a permit to the miner. To this end, it said, the situation breaches aspects of the Amerindian Act of 2006, particularly as it relates to permission being granted to miners to operate on any land which is contiguous with village lands, rivers or creeks.

The issue is one of many facing the authorities regarding mining operations near Amerindian communities. Other villages in Region Seven and other parts of the country have faced problems associated with mining activities, resulting in the main waterways in some villages being polluted.