–following harassment, alleged shooting by another miner

By Ariana Gordon

A MINING family currently operating at Kuribrong in the Potaro area of Region Eight is calling on the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to intervene in a land dispute there.Ruby Carrington, her sons and nephews, who were earlier this year caught mining on what has been deemed State property in the Kuribrong area and were issued a cease work order, now fear for their lives as another miner, Sheik Halfroze, is allegedly harassing and threatening them.

According to Carrington, who spoke with Guyana Chronicle on Thursday while in Georgetown, she is tired of the runaround and lack of protection she and her family receive at the hands of the police.

“Since Easter time he come in with the warden and they tell we must move out of the place… He personally come back and chop down the pipe and box…When we go to Bartica Police Station and report it…they didn’t take no report — do nothing about the matter,” she explained.

The frustrated woman said she is now before the court, as Halfroze sued her for $10M. Halfroze, she said, is claiming that she and her son Devon Davis have damaged his property and continuously carry persons on his land. “I cannot stop people from going on the land,” she told Guyana Chronicle.

The frustrated woman claimed Halfroze went into the mining location last Sunday and shot at the dredge and mining camp. She said she, her family and the workers fear for their lives.
“We have nowhere to work…we need the place to work… we want to work honestly,” the woman told this publication.

Her nephew, Shane Jacobs, said: “We are being ‘fight down’ all the time by Sheik Halfroze, who is claiming that the place we are on right now is his own.”

Jacobs said Halfroze is not the only person claiming the land, but the GGMC has thus far failed to state who the land belongs to.

“Last week Sunday he was in my pit, testing the pit and saying the land is his own and he working right there…I end up retaliate towards him, telling him he can’t work there. I tell he if it is he own, bring the lawyer and documents and I would withdraw from the place… He said that if he Government was in power he would have done move me out of there with force,” Jacobs recounted.

The miner said he is tired of the threats being made by Halfroze, and is calling on the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to intervene. He said he wants the GGMC to state clearly who is the owner of the land, so that the way forward can be formulated.

SOMETHING COOKING UP
“I was made to understand the land is not his own, and he buy an alternative from a man name Telford Layne; and for me, something cooking up in GGMC… I would like the Government to seek into this, also GGMC to come and verify this place, to solve the problem going on now in Kuribrong with Sheik Halfroze; because every time he keep molesting us…”

Jacobs told Guyana Chronicle that last Sunday’s events resulted in workers being afraid to work in the area. “He shoot up with he gun and said I have to leave, and (he) had my men running,” he recalled.
According to the miner, he has invested some $10M to get to the Kuribrong location, and in order for him to be relocated “I have to get money to move…I can’t move from there suh.”

VERIFICATION
The frustrated man said if Halfroze is the owner of the land, he is prepared to move; but until he sees an official document to that effect, he will not relocate.

“I am looking to work, but not under those conditions… It is hard and very far…I want GGMC to come to this place and verify, so we could know once and for all.”

In an article published in Kaieteur News of Sunday, July 24, 2016 under the headline “Gold miner forced off Kuribrong land by raiders”, Halfroze said he acquired the land at Kuribrong in January 2015 by virtue of a Power of Attorney, and discovered raiders on the land at the time of acquisition.
RAIDERS
He told Kaieteur News that, in March of that year, he and GGMC mines officers visited the location and cease-work orders were issued. The man said he and his 12 employees are fearful for their lives, as the raiders have been threatening them.

By virtue of an “irrevocable limited Power of Attorney”, Halfroze has the power to sell and operate the mining block, located at the confluence of the Kuribrong and Amaila Rivers in Region Eight.

Contacted for a comment, Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Simona Broomes, told Guyana Chronicle that the situation is being investigated.
She explained that the investigation started months ago, and, to her surprise, officers of the GGMC have issued a prospecting permit and mining licence to Halfroze.

The minister also said the miners were told they would have to vacate the Kuribrong location. “I did make it clear to them when I visited the location that they have to move… They did mention that the water is high (and there was) no pontoon at the time for them to come out…but when I visited, I saw the camp and all of that… I did not see the dredge working, so they said that as soon as the water dropped they would have moved.”

Minister Broomes told Guyana Chronicle she was informed that a syndicate has been formed with other persons, and those miners have applied to Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Raphael Trotman, for allocation of land in the said area of contention.

“…they were waiting to see (if the) syndicate (would) get the place,” the minister stated. She said an instruction was handed down for all matters relative to the specific contentious area to be halted, pending the outcome of investigations.

“At that time, they (complaining miners) had said the mines officers chop down their box and took their gold. I later learnt that, in spite of that, a prospecting licence was granted,” Minister Broomes added.

According to Minister Broomes, the miners complained that other persons entered into arrangements with the GGMC mines officers and received letters permitting them to work in areas that are deemed mineral rich.

“This is of concern to me…. What I have seen is, on the 16th January, a gentleman made an application for an area; on the same 16th January, he then gave a miner Power of Attorney for the said plot of land. It demonstrated that the applicant was absolutely positive that he would get the land,” Minister Broomes declared.

She said it is only fair to the parties involved in the dispute that the matter be solved before the GGMC proceeds with allocating any portion of the land in dispute.

“The influence of the applicant is not only of great concern to the miner, but to me as well. In spite of my instruction on the investigation, the gentleman was granted a prospecting licence days later, against the regulations and policy,” Minister Broomes disclosed.

She also said that Halfroze had applied for a mining licence that was not granted, given the intervention of GGMC Commissioner (ag) Newell Dennison.

BREACH OF REGULATIONS

“The persons who are dealing with these matters at Land Management, they are fully well aware of the regulations; and therefore applying for mining licence after receiving a prospecting licence calls for a different process. The applicant must show some level of prospecting for 3-6 months,” she said.

Minister Broomes made it clear that this is not the first time regulations have been breached by the GGMC, but she said she is not going to “bury my head in the sand and doubt, deny to the media that the allegations that the miners are making with the particular applicant and the arrangement (are) not being investigated”.

The complainants had visited the GGMC to see if the land was available, but they were told it was a cancelled block and, as such, they cannot now apply for it.

“So while legitimately they wanted to apply, they were denied applying for it because the place was not available. But these other applicants, who have no dredge and are not in a stranded position, just showed up and get a licence,” she declared.

The minister made it clear that she has several concerns about the particular issue, and has submitted to Minister Trotman a confidential report that contains several recommendations.

“I cannot defend something that is unclear and questionable; it is something that needs to be addressed, and urgently,” Minister Broomes stressed.