President of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) Simona Broomes and a team were on Friday told of a recent incident at Port Kaituma where a taxi driver had been caught trying to smuggle two school-aged girls into the interior around 10 o’clock one night.
Speaking at a meeting the GWMO held at Port Kaituma for miners and residents to air matters of concern, a resident related that the taxi driver had been arrested and an investigation launched.
The resident said too that both girls had been taken for medical examinations.
Broomes applauded the residents’ action and said that any reports of human trafficking should be made to the relevant authorities.
Meanwhile, miners and business owners aired concerns about water contamination and the removal of shopkeepers by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.
Janice Clement, a businesswoman said that last year four children died from gastro as a result of contaminated water which was coming through the taps of most homes.
She added the water was disconnected to most areas deeming it unhealthy to use.
She added that vagrants are being paid by vendors to dump garbage in the river which contaminates the water.
“The garbage is a major issue and no one looks at it,” Clement said.
Clement said too that there have been steady blackouts in the community almost every day. She added that during a power outage, a man’s shop was robbed of millions of dollars in articles.
Margaret Lambert, a miner, said that her mining outfit was accused of polluting the waterfront. But she noted that the body of a man was left in the same river for five days.
“The water is contaminated because there is a set of latrines being built next to the river and when there is a flood it mixes,” Lambert said.
She added that in the Four Mile District there was a bacterial outbreak following a report of faeces being thrown into the river.
“We need better toilet facilities and to move away from the latrines because it is unhealthy. When the rain falls it flows over to the river and people consume that same water,” Lambert said.
A resident, Tyson Archer, said there needs to be more activities for young people, other than mining.
He added that most of the land was taken up by large scale miners who own more than one dredge.
Broomes said that for a community which recorded the highest gold exchange of 2012 residents deserved better health and other facilities.
“… Nothing has been improving in Port Kaituma. The system is designed for certain people who have the money to acquire anything. There should be a level playing field,” Broomes said.
She suggested that there should be tax exemptions for those who operate motorbikes, all terrain vehicles (ATVs), single cabs, trucks and excavators because the hard work of getting the gold starts with the labourers.
“The dealers who buy the gold get exemptions but the labourers who go into the mining camps and risk their lives, some of whom get malaria, face the tax bracket at all ends,” Broomes said.
Safety is another issue that was brought to her attention by one of the miners.
Broomes said that a few weeks ago a man died after he was struck in the head with an excavator bucket.
She noted that often when heavy duty machinery was in operation, persons, especially children, could be seen playing around the area.
Broomes promised to raise the various issues with the relevant authorities in Georgetown and to revisit the area.
