The National Toshaos Council (NTC) yesterday declared that the Kaieteur National Park (KNP) is an infringement on the rights of the Patamona community and it called on President David Granger to address this matter and to have all charges recently brought against persons mining in the area dropped.
A crackdown on illegal mining in the KNP ordered by the President resulted in nearly two dozen residents of the Region Eight community of Chenapau being arrested and brought to the city. They were served with summonses and will have to appear in court in Mahdia in July charged with violating the Protected Areas Act.
In a statement yesterday, the NTC, which recently clashed with the Granger administration over the establishment of a controversial lands commission, defended the rights of the Chenapau residents to operate in the area.
