Two weeks ago, residents of Port Kaituma and nearby areas began to complain bitterly about the pollution of their water supplies by miners working upstream. In the past few years such complaints from various parts of the country have been numerous and a reflection of the wanton disregard of miners for the riparian rights of citizens in these areas. Miners have become emboldened by the increasing weight of the economy attributable to their mineral returns and the ineffectiveness of the government and its regulatory bodies at reining in environmental pollution.
How did the government respond to the concerns of the Port Kaituma residents? Well, it seems that the Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud had been in the area for mining week activities and upon hearing of the concerns he announced that the ministry would make available $80m to the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) for the construction of a water treatment plant.
Undoubtedly it was a generous announcement by the minister but is that the price of mining pollution in this country? Should the way of life of people along ancient rivers and their tributaries be reduced to drinking treated water simply because the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Government of Guyana have signalled to miners that gold production must not be compromised? Even if only to bulk up GDP numbers?
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment is not responsible for water supply. Its responsibility rests with ensuring that miners comply with the laws pertaining to mining and ensuring the protection of the environment. This newspaper has already argued that the merging of responsibilities for natural resources and the environment is unworkable and one should be cleaved from the other. Here it seems, the Minister also wants to take on the portfolio for water.
We would humbly suggest that the minister acted outside of his mandate and neglected his own. It was for the Ministry of Water and GWI to take emergency action to alleviate the water woes of Port Kaituma residents. It was for the Ministry of Natural Resources to immediately identify where the pollution was coming from, investigate and where necessary apply sanctions against miners. It was for the Ministry of the Environment to immediately analyse the seriousness of the pollution based on the NTU readings and decide what steps should be taken to alleviate it.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has not advised whether these actions have been or will be taken. However, the Government Information Agency made it seem as if Port Kaituma should have been grateful for the $80m intervention even though their traditional way of life and their customary manner of drawing water from the river and creeks for many uses is under pervasive and unrelenting threat.
Mining pollution has harried Port Kaituma for years. In 2012, Minister Persaud stated that some polluting operations would be shut down. It is unclear if any were shuttered but not even the threat of this has been issued this time around. In 2010 a member of the community painted a picture of the disregard for the community’s concerns.
Neville La Rose, the Chairman of the Citrus Grove/Airstrip Community Development Council, had said that in August of that year, residents noticed that the colour of the water in the Kaituma River had changed. He had explained to this newspaper that this was the only water source for Port Kaituma and it served domestic and other uses. He said that GWI had not been pumping water to homes for some time due to the pollution in the river.
“We need assistance because the situation is terrible,” La Rose had said at the time.
It is this type of neglect and disregard that residents of riverain areas have had to endure because of the disdain with which miners have been operating in this country and the clear unwillingness of the government to bring them to heel. With gold declarations down this year and the economy in the doldrums, the government is auctioning more lands to miners and holding lotteries. One pertains to properties near Port Kaituma. The message is clear that the government is giving the all-clear for mining while paying lip service to environmentally sound extraction.
Minister Persaud has made much of last week’s $2B assignment of mining revenues to the National Protected Areas Trust Fund notwithstanding the irony that Guyana lost double that amount in forest protection funds from Norway last year specifically because of deforestation caused by mining. It is a clear case of digging a pothole to fill a bigger one.
Port Kaituma is only one sufferer in this pernicious chain. Stabroek News has reported on several Region Seven communities which have punished for years with the mining pollution of rivers. The Cuyuni and the Mazaruni and other rivers in the region continue to bear the brunt of mining pollution and its related effects. The Konawaruk River remains a silent and sad sentinel of the severe damage that can be caused by mining.
Small communities have been left to fend for themselves. The environmentalists and local government appear to have been muzzled by the hand that feeds. Stabroek News has long called for the termination of alluvial mining and stands by it. It is unclear where the government stands on saving rivers and creeks from pollution by miners.
The Kaituma River is like gold for residents of that area. The end all cannot be the financing of a water treatment plant. The government has to decide what it wants. Is it runaway mining and heavy environmental damage or will a balance be struck to ensure that mining is done in as safe a manner as possible and without polluting waterways? With general elections on the horizon, many communities may soon be recipients of water treatment plants.
