Dear Editor,
Since the illegal mining at Marudi Mountain made national headlines, all media, from the newspapers to the government press releases have been depicting Marudi Mountain as a ‘wild west’ area where all of the activities have been illegal. An article in the Sunday Stabroek again paints a picture of extensive and continuous illegality of mining in Marudi. There is also the case of the GGMC stating that gold is not declared from this location and also painting a picture that the illegal activities have been going on for a long time and that the area is unregulated.
Those who know Marudi and its mining activities take affront at this representation because it is far from the truth.
Yes there was a case of raiding on a Prospecting Licence which is against the law. But there are numerous similar instances in all parts of the mining industry of Guyana. Does that make the entire industry a haven of illegalities? Definitely not!
For those who may be interested, the real information on mining in Marudi is as follows:-
1) There are a large number of porknockers doing manual mining in a location called Mazoa Hill. This mining has been ongoing for decades with the tacit approval of the foreign company/ies who own the exploration licence for Marudi Mountain mainly because most of these miners are from the nearby Amerindian villages of Aishalton and Karaudarnau. This group of porknockers are as organised and structured as any organisation you can find in Guyana. There is a management structure instituted so that all issues can be dealt with in an organised manner. One of the main requirements of this group is that they must have a small scale Prospecting Licence as stipulated by law and that all gold produced is sold to authorized dealers. Crime is almost non existent save for isolated cases and almost all problems are resolved through this management structure. Can the GGMC state if there is any other location in Guyana which has porknocking activity which is so properly organised?
2) Dredge mining has been ongoing for a number of years on valid mining claims which exist in Marudi. Permission had to be granted by the claim holders before mining could have been undertaken. The Mines Officers made frequent visits to the mining operations to ensure that everything was in order. This group of miners were close knit and everyone made the effort to undertake mining the correct way. This information should be corroborated by GGMC since the Mines Officers must have reported back to their superiors on the mining that was ongoing in Marudi.
3) Much effort was made to ensure that the mining activities conformed to the environmental requirements as stipulated by law. Time and effort was spent by the miners to set up tailings ponds to ensure that there was minimal discolouring of creeks that drain from Marudi. The miners were frequently congratulated by the officers for making the effort to have proper mining practices.
Mining in Marudi is near to a number of Amerindian communities yet there have been very few reports of contamination of waterways. Isn’t this an indication of the miners displaying their respect and regard to the people that live nearby? GGMC suffers innumerable cases of conflict between Amerindian communities and miners throughout Guyana yet this was never the case at Marudi. Shouldn’t this be reason for congratulations and support to the miners rather than the backlash that they are now facing?
4) There has been much goodwill between miners and the communities of the South Rupununi and even further. The miners are known as generous contributors and frequently offer assistance to various needs of the communities. Can GGMC, the Ministry of Natural Resources and even the present exploration company state how often they have helped the local communities near to Marudi?
5) There is clear evidence that most of the gold produced at Marudi has passed through the relevant authorized gold dealers. Now that this information has been brought to light GGMC need to give an unreserved apology to the miners.
Further to the points highlighted, it must be noted that the miners did not just turn up and commence illegal mining. Rather, they were seeking representation for over a year, from the Hon. Minister, GGMC and even the President, on their concern that mining lands were becoming scarce and that a foreign company was holding up prime lands without doing anything.
If anything GGMC and especially the Hon. Minister need to be blamed for letting this issue get so far because they did not do anything to deal with legitimate concerns of these miners. It is ironic that after the whole episode got out of hand that the Hon. minister undertook an action – of reviewing the exploration company’s mining concession – which was requested by the miners over a year ago. Further, action by GGMC to set up a lottery was also what was requested by the miners a year ago.
Further irony was that if this illegal mining had not happened with the subsequent publicity, then it was most likely that the concerns of the miners in Marudi would never have been looked at. It is a sad state of affairs in our country when legitimate issues are only dealt with when something illegal happens and then remedial actions are undertaken; actions which were often recommended by the affected parties much earlier.
GGMC has done much disservice to the miners in Marudi by painting the mining activities in this location with a broad brush of illegality. I am certain that they have the information and mechanisms at their disposal to properly ascertain the facts of mining in Marudi which could have been furnished to the newspapers so that there was proper depiction of the actual mining activities.
There are other pertinent questions about mining in the Rupununi that need clear answers. There is something called an “Administrative hold” on mining blocks in the Rupununi. What this means is that persons with valid medium scale mining blocks cannot convert them to mining permits to undertake mining as stipulated by law. GGMC collects payment for converting these blocks but the actual permits are not granted. Many are wondering if this “Administrative hold” is a legal undertaking for there is nothing in the Mining Act which states anything about an administrative hold on valid medium scale blocks.
Some bemused miners have been waiting over a year after making their payments to be granted their permit. Such a situation does not exist anywhere else in the mining industry in Guyana. The explanation from GGMC is very vague and the block owners are none the clearer on the reason for them being denied their legal rights as stipulated by law and outlined as a requirement by GGMC before mining can be undertaken.
The Rupununi region is again the only mining location in Guyana where medium scale blocks that have been given up are not sent to auction or lottery as again stipulated by law. I would like GGMC to cite a single instance when blocks in the Rupununi, Region #9, have been open for auction or lottery in the last three years.
Further to this no river can be mined in the Rupununi.
The Rupununi, for all intents and purposes, seems to have a completely different set of “laws” for mining. For there is nowhere else in Guyana where such stringency is applied to the mining locations.
It should therefore come as no surprise that eventually the miners in the Rupununi would have resorted to illegal mining for they have been repeatedly pushed around by the authorities.
Mining is a legal activity in Guyana and there are laws governing it. This law is the same throughout Guyana. But somewhere along the way it seems that the Rupununi Region became an exception to the law and there are different requirements and regulations for this part of our country.
It is very easy for the authorities to say that the miners in Marudi are lawless. But when you look at the bigger picture it is the authorities who have been treating miners in the Rupununi with a fair amount of lawlessness. It is time the authorities recognise that the rights of the miners from the Rupununi are the same as anywhere else in Guyana and start treating them as such.
Yours faithfully,
M. Evans
