Dear Editor,
I am the owner of blocks at Mahdia, but I am a person with moral standards and do not like to see people being taken advantage of. In Mahdia gold-mining is the main source of survival; everything that goes on there depends on this mineral, so when a sore issue with claims is not solved in the proper way it causes frustration for the miners and depresses the economy. There are claim-holders who have been paying for their claims for years; every year their names are gazetted, and as soon as gold is produced in a large amount, some man with money automatically becomes the holder of these claims. You may be in possession of all your required documents, but yet these are not recognized as valid.
For how long do GGMC place claims under a cease order, and if a claim is under cease order, how can someone else work this claim?
I also would like the miners’ association and ministers with responsibility for mining to look into some other problems, because there are persons being dealt with unfairly. Some of us were given blocks in a raffle down the Potaro, but where I saw them, the location of the blocks is wrong, and somebody in Lands and Surveys needs to investigate. The wardens who are in Madhia need to have knowledge about where claims are located. The current wardens are not like those before, who were really trained in this field. Questions are asked but no proper answer is given. At meetings with ‘mines’ one lady tried to find out about her claims, but all that she heard was that ‘we will look into it.’ In the case of one person whose claims were taken away, they were told to ask the Commissioner. I was present at a meeting about someone’s mother’s claims, and the person enquiring was told that they had never seen any document for his mother, but because of good mind she would get some land in compensation. How can you tell someone that they will be compensated because of good mind, when the woman’s claims were paid for and verified?
This country needs a government that is loyal and sees people as Guyanese. Some of these officers who are in the driving seat are abusing their authority treating the poorer class of people like dirt. The President of this country needs people at his side that are bold, courageous and faithful to this country, and want to see Guyana become the breadbasket of the Caribbean. We need men and woman in this country to be role models for the world to see that Guyana is blessed. I am asking the President to look into these issues.
Yours faithfully,
PT Perreira
