…appeal to Trotman to look into alleged corruption, mining blocks’ allocation
The Guyana National Mining Syndicate is calling for a full-fledged investigation into the operations of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the removal of acting Commissioner Newell Dennison and Technical Adviser Donald Singh.
The call was made on Tuesday as the group protested in front of the GGMC’s Brickdam office in the hope that someone would be able to alleviate their suffering. The small miners’ group says it is not being allowed to mine owing to the lack of lands and accuses the GGMC of giving priority to large and medium-scale miners.
The small miners plan to continue their protest action today
Judith David Blair, President of the Karau Mining Syndicate, said the small miners were frustrated by landlordism and thus requested that they be given land so that they could work. She added that they were trying to conduct their operations in accordance with the law, but the level of nonchalance displayed by the GGMC officials made this a tough task.
“We decide to come out here, because after making several applications for lands for over a year now, we have not been given a formal word or documentation that would lead us into mining and not prospecting and it’s very hard. First, as small miners, we have a multitude of people with us who are fighting for bread and butter today and all we know is mining and that’s what we want to do. We have dredges that have been laid up for over a year and, through this initiative of the Syndicate, we are now hoping that our lands will be processed and we would be able to mine,” she said.
Blair related that they met with Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman on March 29, and he promised to address the processing of mining lands for small farmers as a matter of immediate importance. However, she noted that the Minister merely uttered false promises since they were still awaiting the processing of their land applications. The small miner said they also observed that the lands they applied for were being given to other miners, most of them large or medium-scale operators.
“We’re very concerned and want to say to the Minister that he needs to hear the cry of the small miners, the plight of the small miners and he has to pay attention to us, because while a few will be benefiting, the masses are still in distress. We are hopeful and we are waiting on him to make the decision,” Blair said.
Another small miner, Carol Fredericks said the small miners were sick and tired of being treated as though they were not Guyanese and being deprived of their rights to earn a decent living.
Corruption at GGMC
“Corruption must go…Donald Singh must go…Dennison must go…Closed Areas Committee must go”; those were just a few of the chants coming from the group as they protested and voiced their frustrations. The group is accusing acting GGMC Commissioner Dennison and Technical Adviser Singh of deliberately “ducking” their applications.
“GGMC must be investigated. Those responsible must face the penalty for all their wrongdoings, and Mr Dennison ain’t serving no purpose for GGMC. We ask for the removal of Donald Singh, but instead they promote him to adviser to Dennison…GGMC is corrupt,” Fredericks charged.
“The dissatisfaction with the GGMC, the level of (alleged) corruption within the GGMC, the back and forth-ness with GGMC…” were among the issues that Blair lamented.
The group is also accusing Dennison and Singh of sabotaging their applications to support their alleged corrupt practices. Blair added that had it not been for their persistence then all of their applications would have been “ducked”.
“Our persistence in getting the applications out and seeing them get on stream we were able to discover that one was missing and that one that was missing, could you imagine that was to facilitate a millionaire in this country who already got money,” she revealed.
Conflict of Interest
The Closed Area Committee (CAC) was established in February 1994 and was mandated to identify closed areas and State reserves that can be opened to miners for the purpose of the location of claims, and approving applications for grants of prospecting and mining licences, prospecting permits and mining permits.
However, the small miners are crying foul as it relates to the operation of the CAC. They are saying that their interests are not being represented, whereas there are members from the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) on the Board to represent large and medium-scale miners.
“Closed Areas Committee have directors who are members of the GGDMA; the President of the GGDMA is a director on the Closed Areas Committee and he was given a special order that was passed for land for him in the Karau area which is closer to us….why didn’t they consider the Karau Mining Syndicate for those land? It is less expensive and he was given 15 blocks that was gazetted for him on a special order,” Fredericks related.
“Mr Tony Shields, who is a member or director on that Closed Area Committee and GGMC is renting a building from him for (a hefty sum) and they are talking about conflict of interest…. that is conflict of interest,” she added.
Parish Peak
Parish Peak, located in the Upper Berbice area, is said to be a mining hotspot. However, Government announced that the area was off limits to mining and, as such, it would not be issuing any licences to mine in the area.
The Syndicate, however, is saying that mining activities are occurring around the Parish Peak area and, as such, they believe that the Government is deliberately finding excuses to block them from mining. “I cannot understand the Minister sending a letter to the Berbice Syndicate saying that they cannot have the land because the land is reserved – for I don’t know what, but in that same area 58 mining licences were given out,” Blair questioned.
President of the Berbice Mining Syndicate, Lloyd Moore said there were over 200 members in the Berbice Syndicate, with more than 3000 lives affected. “The thing is there is so much inequality; there is so much unfairness in this whole issue and we trust that Minister Trotman can rethink his decision, because if it is a reserved area you wouldn’t have 48 other persons working in the area. If it is a reserve, reserve means that there is nobody else, so there’s something wrong here,” Moore said.
The Syndicate will continue its protests today at the same location and plans to continue protesting until members can be provided with a solution to their issue. (Lakhram Bhagirat)
