Displaced Marudi Mountain miners are threatening to recommence mining “without approval” from the Government if that approval cannot be granted by the end of the new week.
The miners said all they have been given from the Government since the dispute between them and Romanex Guyana Exploration Ltd. began is “nuff sweet talk.”
The Association also threatened to riot against the company.
In a statement from the Rupununi Mining Association –a body which was formed by the small miners so that they can have a voice, they said “we have families, and we have to eat and to live. It is over two years now and we are holding up ‘we side’, but all we getting from the Government is ‘nuff sweet talk’.”
The Ministry of Natural Resources in a statement on January 19, 2018 promised the displaced miners that they will have several blocks of mining lands.
Since Romanex acquired the rights for the concession in Region Nine, there have been clashes between the company and workers who come from Amerindian villages in Region Nine, including Aishalton.
The association said Romanex had promised them that if they move the landing to another location, they will allow the people to work.
“As such, with great effort, the landing was moved to a new location and up to this date Romanex has not allowed the people to recommence working,” the statement said.
Though many promises were made by the Government and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), “it is now over 2 years that people are waiting and suffering” the miners said.
They explained that “some persons have already lost their proprieties to bank because they are unable to pay their loans. Many people have sold whatever little they had in order to invest in mining at Marudi and now the equipment are deteriorating and they are becoming frustrated and desperate.”
They requested that one “one mountain be given to us (the miners) and the other Romanex in order for everyone to earn a living.”
In its January 19, 2018 statement the Natural Resources Ministry said “Of the blocks earmarked, some will be allocated to the Rupununi Miners’ Association while another is identified for administration by the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation (GWMO) for its members who are operating in Mining District 6. The new lands being made available are contiguous to the Romanex Concession.”
According to the Ministry, Minister Raphael Trotman plans to have a consultation with the relevant stakeholders including, representatives of the South Rupununi indigenous communities, during the second week of February 2018.
