Region Ten councilors join Hururu residents in protest

Apr 23, 2013 News

-over RUSAL’s blocking of road to logging concessions

Some 200 Hururu residents, accompanied by two Region Ten Councilors, yesterday staged a second day of protest over RUSAL’s refusal to allow residents to access a road to logging concessions in the area.
They used logs and other debris to block the Hururu road, which the Village Council had leased to the Russian mining company some time ago.
The protest began early in the day and ended around 17:00 hrs. Residents who spoke to Kaieteur News said that they will continue their protest until RUSAL officials meet with them to discuss the issue.
One villager said that the logging concessions are some distance from the area that has been leased to RUSAL for mining, and therefore would not impede the company’s work. However, he explained that the loggers would have to use the Hururu roadway to reach their concessions and RUSAL is preventing them from doing so.
Region Ten Chairman, Sharma Solomon, yesterday expressed support for the residents. He said that any investments coming into the Region must be built on mutual benefit.
Region Ten Councilors, Leslie Gonsalves and Maurice Butters, visited the area to lend support to the protesters and to listen to their concerns.
Kaieteur News was told that Gonsalves and Butters, along with Toshao Winsbert Benjamin, were initially prevented from passing a checkpoint that RUSAL had set up on the Hururu roadway. They were eventually allowed to pass.
“What they (the residents) are saying is that the company (RUSAL) in a very hostile way is not allowing them to get to their logging concessions,” Gonsalves said. “They are being stopped from harvesting their logs.”
According to Gonsalves, the Guyana Forestry Commission had granted permission for the residents to harvest their logs and some of the logs had even been stamped.
He also accused RUSAL workers of destroying the logs.
Kaieteur News was told by members of the Hururu Village Council that the Council has leased over 2000 acres of land to RUSAL for some $1.3M per month for bauxite mining. The Hururu road has also been leased to RUSAL for $1.1M per month.
Winsbert Benjamin, the Hururu Village Council’s Toshao, explained that this money is paid to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. He also explained that from this sum, some $1M is deducted to pay RUSAL monthly for electricity that the company supplies to Hururu.
Kaieteur News was told that as part of the agreement between the Hururu Council and RUSAL, residents will have to discontinue cutting logs in the leased area. RUSAL is said to be preparing to commence mining soon, which means that the agreement will now be enforced.
But now several residents, including Deputy Toshao, Victor Walker, are expressing reservations about the deal, which they say will severely affect the livelihood of loggers in the area.
Some residents have even accused the Hururu Council of selling them out.
Rather than the $2.3M per month, Walker and other residents have suggested that RUSAL pay $12M for lease of the mining area and use of the Hururu road.
The Deputy Toshao said that the issue was to have been discussed at an April 17 meeting with officials from the Amerindian Affairs Ministry. However, he alleged that when he arrived at the meeting he was prevented from raising the issue, allegedly due to his late arrival.

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Region Ten councilors join Hururu residents in protest

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