The Batavia Village Council and the miner accused of occupying titled village land have agreed to utilise the assistance of a surveyor in hopes of putting an end to their ongoing dispute.
Toshao of Batavia Oren Williams told Stabroek News that a meeting was held in the village last Wednesday to address the situation and Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe and officials from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Batavia Village Council were all in attendance.
It was noted that though the miner, Ricky Ramnarine, was also invited to the meeting, he did not show up, making it the third time since the issue arose that he failed to attend a planned meeting.
A fourth meeting was held on Monday in the village and the Village Council, Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock, a GGMC official and Ramnarine were all present.
Williams noted that a decision was made at the meeting to have an independent surveyor, accompanied by a resident of the village, conduct a survey of the disputed land. Once this is done, another meeting will be held for the parties involved to negotiate the way forward.
Stabroek News understands that the survey is expected to be conducted within the next two weeks.
Last month, the Village Council claimed that the community’s land rights were being threatened by Ramnarine, who allegedly entered the village without permission a week prior and began clearing a section that he later identified as his mining block.
It was noted that though the Toshao and other members of the Village Council were able to meet with officials from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and the GGMC, they were told that Ramnarine had been granted a permit for the two mining blocks in 2002, an estimated 16 years before Batavia received its land title.
Notwithstanding, Allicock sent a letter to Ramnarine, insisting that operations be halted until a meeting could be held to discuss the issue. Subsequent to this, however, Ramnarine opted to continue his operation, which prompted scores of residents from Batavia to journey to the location to shut down the operation themselves.
This would have caused an argument between the two groups, after which a cease order was issued by a GGMC officer from the region to halt the operation.
However, the meeting was aborted by the ministry officials after they received a letter from Ramnarine’s lawyer which signaled that the dispute would be taken to court for a ruling.
