More than two months have passed since gold mining operations were halted by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) at Campbelltown, in Region Eight and residents have grown impatient with the Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai as they say they are being denied their livelihoods.
They have been awaiting the disclosure of the findings of an investigation into suspended Toshao Marbel Thomas and other members of the Village Council, which they believe has stalled the resumption of mining activities in the community.
Mining operations in the community were halted on October 20th by the GGMC after an inspection revealed that they there were unsafe. This resulted in some residents petitioning for the removal of the Toshao and the Village Council, while accusing them of only allowing family members and foreigners to mine in the area.
The Toshao and Village Council have since denied the allegations and explained that they acted on the guidance of GGMC, which found the operations to be unsafe. An investigation into Thomas and the Village Council has since been conducted by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs (MoAA) but a decision has yet to be made on whether the council had been illegitimately installed as claimed by about 130 residents of the community.
Following the deferral of a planned meeting with the minister yesterday, a group of residents expressed their frustration with the postponement, saying that she is not taking the issue seriously and that she is not concerned about the well-being of the people as she is fully aware that the resumption of mining activities depends on outcome of the investigation.
“People come out here today [yesterday] to meet with the minister and she did not show up. We have families to feed, so we are awaiting the results of the investigation. If she had our concerns at heart, she would want these issues to be solved as quickly as possible since gold mining is our main source of income and we are suffering because she doesn’t care. The minister is not taking this seriously. It is more than two months now since we worked but this is our land. Nobody can’t tell us what to do,” a resident, who wished not to be named, told Stabroek News on Tuesday.
Another resident noted that the minister had promised to have the matter resolved by early November and as a result they had complied with instructions from the Village Council to await for the issue to be addressed. “We want to work. It is almost Christmas and the Village Council telling us that we can’t work because GGMC say we can’t but this is our land! Nobody can’t tell us what to do and we are fed up of waiting… They don’t understand what we going through for the last couple of weeks, so we will restart mining activities, whether the Village Council or anybody give us permission or not,” the resident stated.
Meanwhile, when contacted, acting Toshao Samantha Edwards-John told Stabroek News that a meeting with the minister was scheduled for Tuesday and she had promised to disclose her decision regarding the investigation but it was postponed until December 28th.
Following the disclosure that the minister had postponed the meeting, she added, villagers expressed their frustration to the council and blamed it for the position the community is in presently. She noted that some have threatened the council over the refusal to allow the resumption of mining activities without permission from the GGMC.
“Everybody here is really frustrated and they are blaming us for the situation we are in but we keep trying to tell them that we have to wait for the go-ahead from GGMC. But they are saying that they are residents of this land and they should be allowed to mine for gold as that is their main source of income and nobody has offered their support to them since mining was stopped,” she said.
In keeping with the Amerindian Act, she noted, a decision should have already been disclosed a few days ago but this was not done. She added that the Village Council had contacted the GGMC regarding the resumption of mining activities in the community but he related that operations cannot resume until a decision is made by the ministry as it relates to the petition.
According to Edwards-John, the response by the GGMC confused her because head of the investigation committee Yvonne Pearson had told them during the time the investigation was conducted that the halting of mining activities was not related to the petition.
She noted that following the concerns by GGMC, the Village Council along with residents of Campbelltown worked to put systems in place so that that works can resume and even though they have submitted their plan it is yet to be determined when mining would resume. She added that the halt in mining activities is having a devastating impact on residents and their livelihoods, hence their behaviour towards the council.
The acting Toshao says that she hopes the issue will be resolved quickly so that peace can be restored in the community.
Stabroek News was able to confirm that the decision regarding the investigation will be made public by the Minister before the year ends.
