THE Brazilian Mining and General Association is calling on the Government of Guyana, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to urgently look into some issues it considers very critical and continuing to affect Brazilian miners.

Secretary of the association, Antonio Szala, during a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle newspaper, explained that there are some mines and police officers who are in the business of shaking down Brazilian miners, and in some cases, according to him, are blatantly robbing the Brazilians of their earnings in the mining communities.
Szala said he has registered his concerns, and those of the Brazilian miners, with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Mr. Justin Mc Kenzie, and a team from the association was forced to travel into a mining area up the Mazaruni River after complaints of corrupt practices were levelled against police and mines officers.
According to him, when they travelled into the area, they met a Brazilian national who claimed that he had been stripped, searched and had his gold taken away by men who claimed to be mines officers.
Szala said the man related to them that after he had been stripped and had gone through the embarrassing ordeal, the mines officer, who took away his gold, then gave him a mobile number on a piece of paper and told him to call the number whenever he travels to the city so that they can “work out a deal”
Szala said that when he contacted the number left by the mines officer, the man acknowledged that he had been in the area with another officer, but that Szala needed to contact that person, since it was that officer who had taken away the gold from the Brazilian.
The mines officer also told the Brazilian representative that the gold which was taken away was lodged with the Guyana Gold Board, something Szala claimed he was able to confirm.
He said the contacted officer told him that when he had attempted to issue the Brazilian with a document for him to sign that his gold was being confiscated; the other mines officer snatched away the paper and denied the Brazilian that right.
Szala added that upon their return to the city, they sought a hearing with officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and those from the GGMC. That meeting saw the PS for the MNRE promising that an immediate investigation would be launched into the matter.
Szala was informed that the same mines officer who is accused of heading the operation in the mining area and who also is the person who refused to allow the Brazilian to sign that his gold had been taken possession of by the GGMC only recently rejoined the GGMC.
“We were told that the said officer, whose name was provided only recently, rejoined the GGMC after being away from the job for a lengthy period, as he was being investigated for allegations of misconduct.
Another issue being raised by the Brazilians is the very frequent and sometimes mind boggling practice of GGMC officers showing up at claims where Brazilians are working and demanding money or other precious valuables as payment for working on GGMC staff claims.
Szala told the Chronicle that, based on the reports from Brazilians, the mines officers would usually show up with their receipts and other documents to verify that the claims that the Brazilians are working are either owned or operated by those mines officers.
He explained that they support the efforts of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment in ensuring that assets and other earnings of all mines officer are brought under the microscope.
He deemed it embarrassing that whenever the association visits mining areas, there is nothing good that the Brazilian miners have to say about them and all that follows are complaints of the manner in which they treat miners.
Szala said that the Brazilians are willing to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment in ensuring that all persons who conduct mining activities in the nation’s interior are protected.
He made it clear that the Brazilian Mining and General Association would not sit idly by and allow persons to take advantage of Brazilian miners, especially since many of those being harassed are the ones operating in Guyana legally, and they sell their gold to the Guyana Gold Board.
Contacted last week, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Justin Mc Kenzie, confirmed that the issues affecting the Brazilians were brought to the attention of the minister, and an investigation has been launched in that regard.
The Brazilian Mining and General Association is a recently registered association formed to look into the affairs of the Brazilians conducting mining activities in Guyana.