Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Mahdia gold miners stage protest
The protestors yesterday
…threaten to withhold royalties if demands are not met
“We have had enough! It is time President (Donald) Ramotar do something for the people who put him in that position.”
This is the view of one of more than 100 demonstrators who staged a protest in Mahdia, Region eight yesterday, calling on the Government to repair their roads and address the electricity situation.
The protestors, most of whom are gold miners, have threatened to withhold their royalties if the government does not act immediately.
“It doesn’t make sense we pay royalties and the government is not treating us right. If they are not going to fix this road and rectify our electricity situation then we will not sell our gold to the Gold Board,” said Raymond Charles, a gold miner.
Among those present at the protest and armed with placards were taxi drivers, gold miners and the Regional Chairman, Mark Crawford.
The demonstrators blocked the main road, leading from the airstrip into the community with planks, preventing vehicles from entering and leaving the village. According to Crawford, the protest will be an “ongoing something” to get the government to place some focus on the mining town.
“We are contributing significantly to the economy and it is unfair for the Government to treat us like this…they give us electricity when they feel like and this is a total eye-pass,” an angry Crawford said.
“The taxes that we paying, where is the money going? It is only fair that they put back into our community because we are doing the right thing and we want to see Mahdia developed.”
Crawford said that the gold miners have vowed to challenge the Government with paying their taxes.
“We have almost 1,000 miners and if the government wants to charge the miners for not paying tax then they should start making accommodations for all of them,” the Chairman posited.
According to one protestor, Dennis Boat, the bridges in Mahdia are “suicide traps which can collapse anytime. You would take 45 minutes to transverse a road in Mahdia instead of 10 minutes.”
The protestors have vowed to continue demonstration today.
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