Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
Gov’t. grants Chenapau villagers permission to mine at Kaieteur National Park until year end
Kaieteur News – One week after shutting down mining operations in the Kaieteur National Park, the government has given residents of Chenapau permission to continue mining within the protected area until year end.
“They give us a time to work until year end,” Toshao of Chenapau, Stanford John told this publication on Saturday.
The permission was granted after the miners met with Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo last week as well as a visit to the village on Friday by a team of government officials including Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai. Officials of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) also attended a meeting of the villagers with the ministers.
Reports are that the ministers requested the GGMC to undertake another geological survey of the area to determine where the miners can work when the December deadline expires. The survey is expected to commence within the next two weeks. “They are coming to drill and survey the place. They have to find five sites for us to work, so in the meanwhile, they give us a chance to work there,” John said.
Residents of the village of Chenapau in Region Eight during a meeting with a team of government officials on Friday.
In a statement on the Natural Resources Minister’s Facebook page, it was noted that the meeting on Friday was facilitated in an effort to provide assistance to the villagers for their mining activities and to discuss the provision of alternative mining lands.
“The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) will work along with the villagers to ensure that mining in the Kaieteur National Park is eliminated,” the statement said. In addition, it was noted that staff of the GGMC will work along with the residents of Chenapou to locate alternative mining properties within the village and outside of the national park.
The minister reiterated that it is illegal to mine within a protected area.
Last Monday, the Natural Resources Minister told this publication that the miners’ equipment was being relocated from the area. He said that 80% of the miner’s equipment was removed by the authorities thus far. However, reports are that although the GGMC officers had issued a cease-work order at the site, the miners remained on the ground as they awaited the outcome of a meeting with the government.
This publication reported two weeks ago that the miners from the village of Chenapau had clashed with armed police ranks who ventured into the area along with GGMC officers to stop the villagers from mining at an area which the residents said was within a buffer zone.
Standford John, told Kaieteur News two weeks ago that the villagers were granted permission by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Natural Resources to mine within the buffer zone which he noted is approximately one kilometer from the boundary line of the village.
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat (left) and Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai during a meeting with residents of Chenapau on Friday.
The GGMC subsequently noted in press release that according to law, no mining is allowed by anyone within protected areas, including the KNP. “The laws and regulations are applied evenly to everyone and mining activities remain prohibited within the KNP as it has severe implications on the environment.”
The miners staged several protests at the mining site even as GGMC officials and the police ordered them out of the area two weeks ago. The residents displayed documents which they noted were processed by the GGMC and which gave them the right to mine in the area. “I spent thousands of dollars to process these papers at the same GGMC, which is now telling me to remove from this area,” one resident said in a video recorded at the area in question.
In May 2017, the police arrested and charged 20 people from Chenapau for illegally mining within the KNP. “It has been decided that as an act of good faith, Government will not prosecute the charges against the more than 20 persons arrested on Sunday May 28, 2017, for mining within the iconic Kaieteur National Park,” the Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement at the time. The charges were dropped after the ministry met with the GGMC and several other government agencies. At the time, the National Toshaos Council (NTC) had criticized the arrests, noting that the park’s boundaries were extended in 1999 without the consultation of residents of the area.
- Bharrat Jagdeo, Kaieteur National Park, Minister of Natural Resources, Vice President, Vickram Bharrat
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