Thirteen miners who are currently facing charges for dredging and destroying several stretches of road and a potable water supply system in Region Eight will not be issued mining privileges, sold permits or be registered to work in any mining district, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) says.

The Commission recently made public the order which became effective from October 16 and which would last for a period of five years.

Trevor Calder, Richard Calder, Steve Caesar, Romel Hamilton, Denzil Tappin, Paul Young, Molly Nieuenkerk, Margaret Nieuenkerk, Orin Wilson, Prakash Singh, Stallin Halley, Bruan Angus and Linden Charles are the delinquent miners listed in a GGMC advertisement which appeared in yesterday’s Stabroek News. GGMC Commissioner William Woolford confirmed that they were the ones deemed responsible for the damage to the road and pipelines.

The damaged pipelines constituted the distribution system of the $50M Salbora Water Project. In addition to the pipelines which supplied potable water to surrounding communities with about 1,200 people, the gold and diamond miners also destroyed several stretches of the Mahdia road.

Woolford, in an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, said the miners’ equipment was also seized and that they face a charge of damage to public property. He said the Commission was also looking to recover the cost of the road from the miners, who are to appear in court mid-month. Woolford said too that the Commission intends to apply the full force of the law against the errant miners, some of whom, he said, were prominent businessmen and women in Mahdia. The GGMC has since handed over an undisclosed sum of money to the Guyana Water Incorporated to effect repairs to the ruptured Salbora water system.

Following a visit by a ministerial team to Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) in August, Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn had expressed shock at mining damage in the area and miners were given 48 hours to move out for an assessment of the situation.

Regional Information Officer Daniel Fraser, in a statement from the Regional Administration had said that miners destroyed miles of roadway and exposed and damaged pipelines in their quest for gold and diamonds.

The Region Eight administration had said that though the Tactical Services Unit of the Guyana Police Force had reinforcements and worked along with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission’s (GGMC) Warden/Mines Officer there was no halt to the destruction.