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Small Miners Association to meet with Minister Bharrat over suspension of dredge operations in Port Kaituma
SMAGI Chairman David Daniels meets with Eclipse Falls miners and shop owners
Kaieteur News – The Small Miners Association of Guyana Incorporated (SMAGI) has said that it plans to meet with the Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat in wake of a dispute that left several mining operations in Eclipse Falls Port Kaituma Region One suspended.
The meeting is part of a plan to brief Minister Bharrat on an agreement made between the miners, Community Development Council (CDC) and the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).
According to SMAGI, an agreement has been brokered between the miners and the settlers in order to bring an end to the suspension in the operations, with a multilateral resolution being arrived at, involving the miners and shop owners, the chairperson of the CDC, Ms. Sunita Henry, and an NDC representative, Mr. David Flores.
The operations of approximately twenty dredges and ten shops were suspended by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) almost a month ago due to the dispute between the miners and the area’s CDC.
Speaking to this publication about the origins of the dispute, SMAGI Chairman David Daniels said: “It was alleged that the miners were paying [the former] CDC chairperson. Now after there was a report made to GGMC that no royalties were paid to him or being paid on the said land, that’s when they came in, so when we did our investigation —well, you know there are bad actors on both sides— to what I understand, there are some miners who were not paying and they were some who I believe, I’m assuming, that did pay; and when Ms. Sunita Henry was elected the new chairperson, no royalties were paid to her, so that’s when the issue arose that the miners are not complying with the order of paying the ten percent tribute for working on the said land.”
He said these conditions are what prompted the GGMC to halt the mining operations.
According to Mr. Daniels, since then, a meeting has been held with all the involved parties.
The meeting was moderated by SMAGI, and an agreement has been reached, which is now awaiting the briefing of the Minister of Natural Resources in order to see the desired result, which is the resumption of mining operations in the area.
Deputy Commissioner of the GGMC, Mr. Jacques Foster, has since confirmed that he is aware of the issue and has been made aware of the recent agreement. However, since his agency is one of enforcement, the Ministry of Natural Resources will have the final say in the matter.
“The previous arrangement about who did pay and didn’t pay, the whole situation will be squashed. They arrived at this new agreement that [whoever] is seeking permission to operate on the said land, now they will be paying the CDC of Eclipse Falls, and the miners agreed that they are willing to pay and they would pay. The chairperson for the CDC at Eclipse Falls, the NDC representative from Port Kaituma, and the vice chair [of the CDC], they all came, and I had discussions with all three parties, including the miners, and everybody in unison agreed and the miners agreed to pay the ten percent tribute and we would forward all the information to the relevant authorities, that is the Ministry of Natural Resources, GGMC. Ms. Sunita Henry, she forwarded that information also to the Minister of Amerindian Affairs to update them on the situation,” said Daniels, speaking about the details of the eventual resolution.
Importantly, SMAGI stated that the miners further agreed that all gold mined within the area will be sold directly to the Guyana Gold Board. This and the other terms of the agreement will be discussed with Minister Bharrat.
Daniels affirmed that as important as it is to get the mining operations back up and running, his agency is committed to respecting and preserving the lands and livelihood of the Indigenous people in the area.
“What is most important to us in this case, is the Indigenous community, that their rights are protected, because as much as we represent small miners, we also represent the rights of our Indigenous brothers and sisters, we want to ensure that if mining activities are taking place on CDC land or land controlled by the village council, that the royalties are paid to that particular village council so that the council can use that revenue to develop their community,” he said in a video statement released by SMAGI.
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