Unfair treatment of the Rupununi Mining Association

Dear Editor,
Due to the ongoing dispute between the small miners of Rupununi, Mining District 6, and Romanex Guyana Exploration Ltd, the small miners have merged to form the Rupununi Mining Association, so that we can have one voice. Mining activities in Marudi Mountain is at a standstill, since the displaced miners are out of work.
Romanex has acquired the rights for the concession for decades now, but have not started any mining. Since the apparent abandonment, the small miners in the area started working two mountains that contain gold; and that gold is found in the rocks, which means that it has to be processed with crushers.
There are currently 70 crushers working, each employing a minimum of 5 persons who all have families. Therefore, thousands of people directly and indirectly are now depending on that place to earn their daily bread.
Romanex has promised them that if they move the landing to another location, the company would allow the people to work. As such, with great effort, the landing was moved to a new location; and up to this date, Romanex has not allowed the people to recommence working.
President Granger himself had promised the people that he would see to it that they would work (this is recorded in video). The Minister of Natural Resources himself made promises to take action in favour of the small miners. Many GGMC officials and others have visited the area and made promises, and it is now over 2 years that people are waiting and suffering.
Some persons have already lost their proprieties to the bank, because they are unable to pay their loans. Many people have sold whatever little they had in order to invest in mining at Marudi, and now the equipment is deteriorating and they are becoming frustrated and desperate.
The way I see this situation is that we are at a breaking point now, and everyone is getting desperate. There are talks of rioting against the company in order to recommence working.
It was published in the Kaieteur News last week Saturday that the Government had given access to land to the small miners and the Guyana Women Miners Organization, but those lands do not have any sort of gold potential; that seems more like a joke to us.
The only place that has gold potential is on the two mountains. As such, we are requesting one mountain be given to us and the other be given to Romanex, in order for everyone to earn a living.
Romanex owners are calling the small miners ‘savages’ and ‘hungry belly’ and other names to that effect; and as I have mentioned before, these people have really been stretched out, and they are at breaking point now.
The miners have decided that if they cannot get the appropriate approval from the Government by the end of the new week, they will go ahead and start back working with or without approval! They said, “We have families, and we have to eat and to live. It is over two years now, and we are holding up ‘we side’, but all we getting from the Government is ‘nuff sweet talk.”
We are kindly seeking Governmental intervention before the situation gets out of control.

Sincerely,
Marlon Johnson,
President, Rupununi
Mining Association