Toshao of Arau, Jackson Joseph said that the four Brazilian miners who were killed when a pit caved in at Arau Backdam last month had started working there about two weeks prior to the accident with the permission of the village council.
He said that for several years before, the Brazilians had been working in a nearby concession owned by a miner from the coast. On September 26, Taigo Nunes Pinto, Ronaldo Da Silva Sousa, Joao Nelson Pinto Mands and Joao Gonsalves Martin died when the pit they were working in caved in. Another miner, Jose Roberto Diaz, who was injured, was flown out of the area.
Subsequently, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud said that the miners were “illegal” and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) had warned about illegal operations in the area just three weeks before the tragedy. Persaud had said that since
