–while telling Land COI how miners cheated family out of property

A PORT Kaituma woman broke down on the stand during Monday morning’s session of the Land Commission of Inquiry (COI) as she called on the body to address the issue of mining by persons on her family’s land.
At the same time, the woman, Claire Fowler of 10 Miles, Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini), highlighted several back and forth frustrating run-ins she has been enduring as she detailed her concerns to the commission.
The woman told the commission during her testimony that the issue centre on several hundred acres of land on which her family resides at Port Kaituma. She said that her late father, John Rodrigues, and family have been occupying the land since 1974, and that prior to his death, the family began to make moves to ensure that they have all the relevant documents regarding ownership of the land.
“We grow up at 10 Miles, Port Kaiutma and after he died, there were a lot of miners coming into the area, presenting no documents from GGMC and they came and mine on our farm land,” she said, adding that the family currently occupies a portion of the land, which amounts to 15 acres.
The Commission also heard how the family made moves to apply for 242 acres of land for additional agricultural purposes, since it had long-term plans as the only ones living there.
She said the miners were mining among several trees and a pasture which her family operated and according to her, the landscape is today different mainly as a result of mining.

She said that since 2002, the family started making moves to apply for ownership of the land through the Guyana Lands and Survey’s Commission (GL&SC), a process that has reached nowhere now 15 years later.
Fowler presented receipts which indicated that her father paid sums of monies to the Mabaruma branch of the GL&SC regarding the land. She said that after he died in 2006, she wrote the GL&SC head at the time and was told to visit the Mabaruma office. She said one Dexter Chacon informed her that the commission was expected to acknowledge her claims, but she noted that the family received none.
Fowler said that she paid various sums for the land to be inspected by the GL&SC.
“Presently, the land is no longer how it used to be,” she said, noting that miners mined out most of the areas. She said that in 2012, the family re-applied to the GL&SC but again no acknowledgement came their way.
Fowler said on several occasions she visited the GL&SC and her frustrations saw her visiting all departments of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), as well as the former Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. However, she never received any form of assistance.

The woman said she visited the GGMC office at Falls Top near Port Kaituma recently and the officer-in-charge informed her that he could not help.
At this point the woman broke down in tears. She said she was locked-up by the police in the area in connection with the incident and as her voice grew weak, she told the commission that she felt cheated. “I said you know something this is not right, I wrote a letter to GGMC, and after that, after about two hours they locked me up, I said I will not give up,” Fowler added.
The woman said that she read that the land COI was ongoing and decided to seek its assistance. According to her, the family built a foundation in the area and she noted that she will continue to fight for the rights to the land. The hearings continue today.