Govt should mediate impasse between Vieira and Chinese Landing

Govt should mediate impasse between Vieira and Chinese Landing – Opposition Leader

May 31, 2019 News

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, has said that because the residents of Chinese Landing and businessman, Wayne Vieira, are at o

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

dds, the government must mediate progressive negotiations between them, so that an amicable solution could be met, from this current impasse.
Currently, Vieira is in possession of a concession granted to him by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), on land that residents of Chinese Landing argue belongs to them.
Vieira had purchased prospecting permits to areas of the community’s land without its knowledge, through an auction sale (lottery), in 1995. GGMC had converted those prospecting permits to mining permits, again without any notice to the community.
Jagdeo said, during a press conference yesterday, that concessions should not be granted in areas that have already been titled. Indeed, the Amerindian Act protects the land rights of Indigenous people, noting that land must not be allocated without their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Minister Dawn Hastings-Williams in talks with the Toshao of Chinese Landing, and Laura George of the APA

Even though Vieira has a concession on Indigenous land, Vieira had contended FPIC was not retroactively validated by the Amerindian (Validation Commencement) Act 2010.
In 2010, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) issued a Cease Work Order (CWO) against Wayne Vieira, after realising that the issuance of mining concessions to him violated the Amerindian Act.
But Vieira made his argument in court, where he challenged the CWO and won. The Commission took the matter to the Court of Appeal and won, following which the miner appealed to the CCJ.
Upon review of the Act, the CCJ determined that the Minister responsible for the Mining Act could not make regulations under that law with a view to enforcing the requirements of another law – the Amerindian Act. So Vieira retained his mining concession for the land.
Jagdeo said that his principle is that if the community was [legally] titled after the person got the concession, “then there must be some engagement between the community and that person, and the government.”
The issue had been quiet for some time, but reared its head when Government stated that it sent a team on an operation to remove illegal miners from Vieira’s property, in early May. The team dismantled some of the miners’ property – some of which belonged to Indigenous miners of Chinese Landing.
Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams, had assured Toshao of Chinese Landing, Orin Fernandes, that Government is committed to resolving the lands right impasse between the Indigenous community and Vieira.
According to Minister Hastings-Williams, the team presented her with a copy of their certificate of title and the absolute grant, and she also noted the evidence that the business is encroaching on the village lands.
This was shortly after Fernandes held a press conference where he stated that the mining concession was issued to Vieira without the community’s free prior and informed consent (FPIC).
Government reported that it occurred under the tenure of former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who oversaw mining at the time.
Meanwhile, Fernandes said that, if miners aren’t allowed to work, it will directly affect Chinese Landing and surrounding communities. He said that the community hunts, fish and farms, but it is mining that drives the development of Chinese Landing.
Jagdeo said that the government must engage all stakeholders in a manner that satisfies all parties.
But though government has indicated its commitment to work through the impasse, it has not indicated what it will do. It is unclear whether there is actually any legal avenue to rescind the concession to Vieira.

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