With the spectre of the recent killings especially the Bartica massacre hanging over them, miners at a meeting yesterday advocated a photo identification system for persons travelling in the interior but were cautious about checkpoints, citing unfavourable experiences with these.

The meeting had been called by the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Assoc-iation (GGDMA) at its Quamina Street headquarters to discuss security of the hinterland, acquiring loans for miners to purchase capital equipment and the existing conditions of the hinterland and plans to maintain same.

But it was security that took up most of the meeting and resulting discussions. President of the association, Afro Alphonso in his opening remarks to the gathering said that over the past few weeks a number of meetings had been held with the police including the Commissioner of Police. Ways of communication in the interior were among the issues discussed.

Executive Director of the GGDMA Edward Shields told that gathering that with recent incidents, security of the hinterland was on the front burner and two meetings in the past two weeks had been held with the Ministry of Home Affairs and other relevant personnel with another scheduled to be held shortly. He said that one of the areas being looked at was communication. “We have to look at communication