MEMBERS of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) are calling for better roads and better security arrangements for the many men and women who work in the gold and diamond mining sector in the hinterland.

“We are issuing a clarion call to the government to invest in improving the roads in the interior as every man, woman or child forced to use them are at risk.”
In a statement to the media, the GWMO expressed sympathy to the families of the persons killed in the accidents at Big Creek, North West District, and at Buck Hall, Region 2 ( Pomeroon/Supenaam) as well as those who were murdered in the interior in recent times.
The accident at Big Creek on Tuesday   afternoon claimed the life of a woman miner. Another woman was among the four persons who died during the   accident at Buck Hall on April 7.   Both were one-vehicle accidents.
The deaths, the GMWO said, are of serious concern to the organisation.
The GMWO said further that the roads that miners are forced to traverse are death traps and every time a man or woman chooses to use those roadways they are putting their lives and limbs at risk.
The two most recent cases of murder, also of concern to the GMWO, are those of miners Robert Hunter, who was killed over the weekend reportedly during a drunken brawl at Imbaimadai and Randy Rafael of Kamwatta Village, North West District whose body was found last Saturday in a hammock at ‘Bruck Up’ Landing, North West with a gunshot wound to the head.
The GMWO said that these accidents and murders follow on the heels of several others in various parts of the gold mining area and as an organisation it continues to be very concerned at the ever climbing rates of murders, accidents and violence in interior locations.
“Many times because of no police presence in these areas, murders go unsolved and grieving families continue to be denied justice.”
We would like to use this opportunity to plead with the relevant authorities to improve the security situation in the mining districts.
The GMWO also extended sympathy to Rita Henry, another woman miner who is now hospitalised after a mining pit at Baramita, Region 1 (Barima/Waini) caved in on her.
“Rita Henry is lucky to be alive and we pray for her safe recovery,” the GMWO said.