More robust regulations needed for mining in Mazaruni River

Local civil society group, the Policy Forum Guyana (PFG), is calling for more robust laws to govern mining operations, particularly in hinterland communities, following a recent incident involving a ‘dragga’ which resulted in one man being injured and several other occupants of a boat traumatised.
The incident occurred on Monday on the Upper Mazaruni River, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), as a group of villagers from Jawalla were travelling in a boat on a six-hour journey to the famous Karowrieng rock paintings to celebrate the culmination of Heritage Month.
The journey commenced in the wee hours of the day and while it was still dark, the boat approached a Brazillian ‘dragga’, which is said to be a more powerful operation than the traditional dredge. Without any warning, the steel cable anchoring the dragga to trees across the river – an illegal practice – was suddenly lifted out of the water and flung by one of the occupants of the boat, injuring the man on his face.
Luckily at the time, the other occupants were lying in the boat and the cable passed over them, not causing any further harm. Had they not been in that position, they could have been knocked overboard or even beheaded.
However, instead of offering apologies or assistance, the workers operating the ‘dragga’ begun hurling abuses at the traumatised boat occupants.
According to the PFG, navigating the Mazaruni River between Jawalla and Imbaimadai continues to be a daily hazard for residents of Indigenous communities. Even experienced boat captains, the group said, are challenged by the currents and eddies constantly changing as a result of the sand-banks caused by tailings from mine sites.
“Individual villagers are increasingly fearful of dangers posed by river travel on this stretch of the Upper Mazaruni, which remains the only physical means of communication between these communities and Kamarang where most sub-regional public services, such as Police, health, education, mining and agriculture are located,” the PFG noted in a statement on Saturday.
The civil society group, which collectively focuses primarily on accountability and transparency issues to natural resources, climate change and extractive industries, posited that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) seems to be a by-stander too often in such situations.
“Whether its inaction results from being too thin on the ground, or being in thrall to the mining lobby, or impeded by the corruption that seeps like a mist through all levels of mining operations – including in some communities – is unclear,” the PFG asserted.
It further highlighted that local Toshao and Village Councils rules relating to governing operations of draggas on rivers are not respected by owners of mine sites, who are well aware that communities have little power to enforce them. This sense of impunity, according to the PFG, has been reinforced by the court judgement which ruled that the rivers belong to the State and not the communities against a Mazaruni Village Council that attempted to remove a miner from the Mazaruni.
“The need for a more robust legal regime to protection of rivers is patently obvious. Moreover, since those whose lives are most bound up with clean, safe rivers are Indigenous peoples, greater authority must be vested in Village Councils to control and manage rivers,” the civil society group stated.
The PFG added that if this was the case then the rights of Indigenous communities to life, health and freedom of movement would be better protected and the integrity of the Upper Mazaruni River better preserved.