By Shauna Jemmott

IN another two weeks, small-scale gold miners who operate in and around the Marudi Mountain area will know their fate; Government is about to make a crucial decision regarding their status.These primarily small-scale operators met with Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, last weekend, and apprised him of their plight in the hope that, by some miracle, he could help resolve it.

The more than 300 miners have long been calling on Government to take urgent action to regularise their operations, and have even mounted a protest to bring to light their being under threat of being evicted by a large Canadian mining operation.

President of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO), Urica Primus, told the Guyana Chronicle that officials from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) visited the disputed area two weeks ago, and during the course of a meeting with miners, told them that the Canadian company that had previously been licensed to mine in the area had regained ownership, and that another team from GGMC would be visiting shortly to remove them from the area.

Having been duly warned, Primus said, the small-scale miners immediately contacted the GWMO, which in turn made urgent contact with Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, to brief him about the situation.

The minister had reportedly informed the organisation that he would be visiting the Region 9 (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) community to carry out his own investigation with a view to addressing the issue.

And true to his word, Minister Ramjattan, accompanied by Governance Minister Raphael Trotman, who has portfolio responsibility for Natural Resources and the Environment, led a high-level delegation last weekend to Aishalton where they held a public meeting with residents of communities in and around Marudi, who also had concerns of their own.

Besides Ministers Ramjattan and Trotman, the Georgetown delegation comprised officials from the GWMO, GGMC, and the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), while the affected communities were represented by their respective toshaos. Also present at the Aishalton meet were reps of the Rupununi Miners Association and the Canadian mining company at the centre of the controversy, Romanex Guyana Exploration Limited (Romanex for short), among other stakeholders.

Truckloads of small-scale miners also journeyed, by whatever means they could, from the Marudi ‘backdam’ all the way to Aishalton to attend the meeting, and through an appointed spokesman, one Sugrim Singh, reportedly elaborated on the history of Marudi; the pleas of the people, and their willingness to work within the confines of the law, while benefiting all of the communities directly and indirectly”.

Singh explained that the area at reference was the only mining area open to the people in Region Nine, and that most of the families in the various communities around it depend on Marudi Mountain for their survival. Among those communities are Lethem, Annai, Kurubukari and Aishalton.

UGLY PAST
Singh reportedly brought up an incident which occurred in 2013 and involved a woman and her son being severely beaten on the Marudi Trail because they dared to protest at being prevented from earning an honest living the best way they knew how.

He said the incident was allegedly the doing of the said Canadian mining company, which wanted small miners removed by any means necessary.

“Shops were burnt down for them to remove; persons were beaten…. They don’t want to revisit those horrible experiences,” Primus told the Guyana Chronicle as she recounted what had transpired at the Aishalton meeting.

Primus said both miners and area residents expressed fear that the same thing, or worse, could happen again if the Government does not intervene, and speedily.

Leaders of the various indigenous communities, on the other hand, spoke about the negative impacts a large-scale mining operation would have on their settlements, and these ranged from damage to the roads, to pollution of the rivers, to disrespect for local authority, to the proliferation of illegal weapons and illicit drugs, among other negatives.

Marshal Mintz, in defending Romanex, spoke glowingly about the company’s investment to date, which amounts to some US$4M; and its policy in regard to working with communities that exist around its worksites.

GWMO INVOLVEMENT
The GWMO first became involved with the Rupununi Miners Association last November, to ensure the miners are represented efficiently.

“Some of them were there before the company. They are well aware that the land wasn’t theirs at one time, and that the land wasn’t anyone’s at one period,” Primus said. She said miners who have been working for decades at Marudi Mountain were never ever afforded the opportunity to apply for the land.

She said it is the only mining area open in Region Nine, and the miners are pleading that the Government assists them in providing land to enable them to work and provide for their families.

Primus said that since the meeting at Aishalton, a decision has been taken to hold a three-day meeting in April, to address the miners’ concerns and to collectively arrive at a solution.

GWMO, in a statement, also said the organisation is holding the Government to its word expressed in its manifesto:- that its intention is to “give Guyanese investors primacy of place in order to ensure that current and future generations of Guyanese are able to improve their lives”.

The organisation also pointed out that that is precisely what miners in Marudi Mountain are fighting for, and expressed hope that the solution will benefit the Region Nine miners.

“We have seen repeatedly that when a community or a region is given an opportunity to acquire land, those benefits are sometimes reaped by someone who is not from that community, which can further the issues,” GWMO stated.