Dear Editor,

I wish to refer to a letter in Stabroek News under the caption ‘Miner working Micobie Amerindian Village lands without permission from the council’ in your issue of 10.7.08, written by Joan Hendricks.

I am sure that when the President decided to give the Micobie Amerindian community its land title in March 2006, he must have called in the GGMC for consultations since mining activities were taking place in the community. The GGMC then would have advised the miner or miners that their claims would no longer belong to them but to the Micobie Village Council, since they would fall within the boundaries of the Micobie Village which is now a titled village. Also the GGMC would have advised the claim holders that they would have to remove from the village with their equipment within a specified date following which all payments from the claim holders to the GGMC for their claims would cease.

If the claim holders wish to continue mining, under Section 48(1) of the Amerindian Act 2006 they would have to receive the consent of the village. In other words the GGMC’s mining permit does not give a miner the right to conduct mining activities on lands belonging to a titled Amerindian village for small and medium-scale mining. But generally miners are of the view that once the GGMC gives them a permit to conduct mining activities on Amerindian village lands that is the end of the matter. This is not so and they need to remove this perception once and for all from their minds.

Miners should also be aware that if they contravene Section 48(1) of the Amerindian Act 2006, they would be found guilty of an offence and liable to penalties under Section 48(3) of the Amerindian Act).

The current problems the Micobie Village Council is having with claim holders show that the GGMC has failed to adequately advise the claim holders who are reluctant to leave Micobie Village Lands.

The Amerindian villages of Isseneru in the Middle Mazaruni, Campbell Town in Mahdia and Arau in Region No.7 are facing similar problems with coastland claim holders. I therefore wish to advise all the claim holders that if they wish to continue mining in Micobie Village, all that they have to do is to remove from Micobie Village lands with their equipment and officially apply to the Micobie Village Council to conduct mining activities on village lands.

But all this is dependent on the claim holders’ conduct and attitude towards the village council and residents. Moreover, if the claim holders have proven to be disrespectful to the village council and residents, their application will automatically be rejected.

The Arau Amerindian Village of Region No 7 is presently undergoing difficulty in removing lawless miners from near their village lands, which warrants the good offices of the Prime Minister and the President’s intervention to bring an end to the villagers’ nightmare. The miners are polluting the residents’ main water course and are destroying their farming and hunting grounds which are blatant violations of their right to life.

The GGMC is fully aware of the environmental destruction taking place in Arau village, but as is their usual practice where illegal mining on titled lands is concerned, a deaf ear is turned and no corrective action is taken.

Yours faithfully,
Peter Persaud
TAAMOG