Dear Sir,

TODAY’S newspapers all scream about more profits and jobs for Guyanese when Goldfields goes underground. Sounds good, and seems like a win-win for all Guyanese, but we have to examine very carefully what is being said here by this crew.
We have been plagued with mine-pit failures all over Guyana, many of which result in death and serious injury. The Aurora mine is no different. There have been smaller occurrences, but, thank God no deaths! Just recently, there was a breach of a pit wall; next was a boulder falling down on a pick-up, injuring a driver.

There is a trick that is practised in some companies, especially those that want to put out grand figures that there are zero loss-time accidents. The way it works is: This guy gets injured at work; crushes his hand in an accident. The company does not report the accident; but their medical personnel treat him and put the chap to sit around all day with nothing to do but get paid, with no reports made to the relevant monitoring agencies about the injury. Theoretically, the chap is still at work. So all the hype of zero safety record can sometimes just be a big hoax and scam.

When one considers that these hoaxes do occur in so-called “reputable” companies, then it is critical that the relevant government agencies take special and extra care to check out everything that the Goldfields people tell them about underground mining. We never had a large underground mine in Guyana before, but we have read about the deaths and injuries that occur in them. I am sure that few Guyanese persons have ever visited or worked in an underground mine before. We just do not know anything about underground mining, so we will need to be properly trained to work safely. We all want jobs, but we do not want to be trapped underground either.

We know that it was Jagdeo that gave Aurora the licence to operate in Guyana, but the APNU government gets to collect the royalty. So we begging the government not to let them get away with any and everything. Insist that all the agencies that have to do with monitoring safety and issuing licences for underground mining be extra careful with any issuance. Double check on everything these people tell you. Right now I am home, having been injured at work (unreported). I’m getting paid, though.
Please consider that Guyanese lives matter; it is not all about royalty.

Regards,

M.Williams