Dear Editor,
A young man met me this week. He had returned from the gold mining areas after what he believed to be his illness as a result of malaria.
He described operations mostly by aliens that are polluting our waterways, rivers and creeks and generally destroying the habitat of our birds and animals.
The operations are also changing the general course of rivers such as the Cuyuni.
I had earlier appealed to the authorities, the PPP administration (1992-2015) and also to the PNC-led administration (2015-2020). This seems to have fallen on deaf ears and foreign entities are still operating doing as they please.
The great tragedy, which I deemed both unacceptable and unforgiveable with both governments is that they seem unwilling, but I hope not unable to take drastic measures urgently needed to protect our forest, flora and fauna.
It is unnecessary for me to detail what is known to all and sundry. These, mostly foreign entities are using powerful equipment to extract gold and other minerals wantonly. What is also no secret, is the susceptibility of officers who are assigned to monitor operations in these far-flung areas.
The destruction of our environment continues unabated and I wonder what we will tell our children and their children when they overlook polluted streams, where fish life is dead and where our waterways are ugly masses of scum and mercury-laced liquid (notice, I avoid using the word water).
I hope this letter will elicit a positive response and action from the appropriate authority.
The irony is that a former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, asseverated that he was the champion of the earth and earned the plaudits of the international community.
Similarly, former President David Granger with equal zeal pronounced and promised a green agenda.
We all assume, therefore that both governments took the preservation and protection of our hinterland and country as a whole, seriously.
What has been and is now taking place in the interior, demonstrates the absurdity of these positions taken by our recent Heads of State.
My view is all of these operations should be completely closed down.
The pittance, the Gold Board and Guy-ana Revenue Authority obtains from these operations is certainly not worth the while.
In any event, when they declare one ounce of gold, it is no secret, that the real harvest is more than quadruple their official declarations.
In a letter, some four years ago, I gave but one example. On a visit to Mahdia, sometime in the early 70s, in the company of Gasso and others, we spent a long weekend in the community and I recall quenching my thirst by taking cool, clear water in my hands from the Mahdia stream.
Years later, I was horrified that I would not put my boots in the same stream, I drank from years earlier.
It was now a dirty patch of muck flowing where neither fish nor animals could venture.
I asked then and I ask now, what have we to lose if we shut down these operations? Loss of jobs and employment? Absolute rubbish.
If we make small areas available to small miners or should I say modern day pork-knockers, there would be jobs and employment galore, concomitantly there will be less corruption, less crime, less reliance on cross-border traffic, what with its potential for prostitution and human trafficking.
Many of those young men and women will be able to live in controlled communities, where there is a moral rudder and opportunities for family-life.
Years ago, there was a proposal to have our security forces harvest our minerals as a parallel assignment to protecting our borders.
I am not anti-Brazilian, I am not anti-Venezuelan, but good sense and patriotism require that our first duty, should be to secure the integrity of all of our 83,000 sq. miles and that the main beneficiaries of the Creator’s bounty should be the descendants of those who arrived here as slaves, indentured labourers, and our Amerindian brethren.
With other Guyanese they should be able to utilize non-aggressive equipment to harvest minerals, while preserving the environment, so that we can still, during designated seasons, hunt fish and wild animals in the manner of our fore-parents, which will not lead to the extinction of any treasured species.
Finally, we must remind the world that we want development but not at any price and that those who know better should no longer remain silent.
Be reminded of the first paragraph in the Introduction to this Book “Not For Sale,” by Samuel Koranteng – Pipim, Ph.D.- “We live in a culture of cowardly silence – a controversy –avoiding society where “getting along by going along” is the way of life. In this culture of silence, we tend to be mute on critical issues or conditions, until our personal self-interests are threatened, or until it is too late”.
Rough calculation shows that for all the benefits that we now get, it will take twenty to thirty times more financial and material resources to repair the damage being done.
This is unacceptable and unforgiveable and if we don’t act now, and I mean now, our children with justification will curse us.
The Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies must arise from their slumber, for if they don’t, we will not be forgiven.
I am copying this letter to the President, Hon. Irfaan Ali, Vice President, Hon. Bharrat Jagdeo, Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Vickram Bharrat, MP, Leader of the APNU+AFC, Mr. David Arthur Granger and Hon. Member, Joseph Harmon, MP, Leader of the Opposition Parliamentary Group.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
