–to avoid being exploited by more affluent landowners
WOMEN miners in Bartica and Itaballi, Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), are calling on the government to bless them with more land for mining, so as to avoid being exploited by the heavyweights in the industry. According to the women, the current situation is of such that once they ‘hit gold’, a term loosely used in the industry, the large-scale landowners for whom they work as ‘prospectors’ terminate their contracts without offering them any form of compensation.
The issue surrounding the acquisition of land was just one of several raised by miners during an outreach by the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) at Bartica and Itaballi yesterday and Friday.
The outreach was aimed at sensitizing women about the newly-formed organization, and simultaneously providing an opportunity for interested persons to register as new members.
At a meeting at the office of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in Bartica, Judy David explained that small miners have to pay to work on the lands owned by the ‘big miners.’
Often, they are not given ‘maiden’ lands to work on; and although they pay a huge amount of their earnings to landowners, they also have to contend with rangers in the area who seek to line their pockets as well, David related to President of the GWMO, Mrs. Simona Broomes.
Sometimes, landowners agree for the miners to work without any documents; and the rangers, being aware of this, seek to exploit the situation by demanding money from the women.
“It’s not fair to invest millions of dollars on someone’s land and when you hit a gold spot you are thrown off without any compensation for developing their land,” another woman miner pointed out.
Having heard almost all of the women who turned up at that meeting complain about the same land issue, Broomes recalled that the Act at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) does not provide for people who do not own land. She said the GGMC did an amendment to the Act, but it is still before Prime Minister Samuel Hinds for his signature.
Broomes told this newspaper that GWMO is expecting to shortly have a meeting with Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Mr. Robert Persaud, in hopes of finding a solution to the land issue.
Having been a miner for 26 years, and being made to endure the same situations her fellow women miners are experiencing, Broomes pointed out that when land owners charge small miners exorbitant amounts for work on their land, all it does is “push these ladies out of the mining industry; because, definitely, they cannot afford it.”
It is for this reason that the GWMO is calling on government to give the organisation some kind of attention, so that the women can work comfortably and their exploitation could be lessened. “So we want to appeal to the government. It is in the hand of Minister Robert Persaud. He can make a difference. I have a lot of confidence in him. We met with him and he had good signals with us,” Broomes said.
The GWMO was launched late last January, and has since made significant achievements, having represented Guyana at different international conferences on women in mining.
The organisation has also had meetings with Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn, who told the group to forward their road concerns to the Works Ministry. Broomes said she was flattered to know that Minister Benn was excited about the formation of the organisation.
The GWMO has also met with Prime Minister Hinds, who gave his blessings to the organization. The GWMO also got a written response from the Ministry of Homes Affairs, which has scheduled a meeting with that body on security concerns, to be held on March 23.
GWMO has also contacted the Ministry of Health, but has received no response as yet.
Broomes said GWMO also spoke with acting Police Commissioner, Leroy Brumell, who displayed humility and did not get upset or defensive at the concerns that were raised by the organisation. Brumell indicated he was happy to work with the organisation.