Jawalla residents accuse govt of using ‘wrong’ map to seize titled lands

May 19, 2025 News

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 ─ Villagers now blocked from accessing homes, farmlands, burial grounds

Kaieteur News- Another annually held National Toshaos Council (NTC) meets today, but the Government of Guyana has not yet fully addressed concerns about “wrongfully” taking lands from the Jawalla indigenous people of Region Seven and giving them to miners.

The issue of titled and traditional lands being allegedly stolen using the wrong map was reportedly raised at the last NTC Conference in Georgetown.

Since then, there have been no serious efforts by the government to address the concerns, the village council has contended.

During a recent visit to the village, Jawalla’s Toshao, Veron Henry, told Kaieteur News that letters were even written to President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

“We have written to our president and vice president, but we have, up until now, not seen the government take any actions to defend our rights”, Henry said.

Gold mining is currently ongoing on the lands, threatening not only their livelihoods but also polluting their main water sources, specifically the Suwai Creek, a tributary of Sawa.

Jawalla residents noted that the Ministry of Natural Resources recently stepped in and suspended a mining licence granted to a foreign company for mining operations at Anaraputa, North Rupununi, Region Nine, after a public outcry by several communities there.

The villages had raised concerns over the lack of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for mining operations.

Jawalla residents were hoping that the government would have taken similar steps for the mining operations taking place on their lands, since they, too, have raised concerns. However, to date, their concerns seem to have fallen on deaf ears as they are being thrown off their property by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).  They have even been blocked from accessing farmlands, burial grounds and homes by gold miners, who now claim legal rights over the lands.

One of the affected villagers is James Moore, a 62-year-old farmer who has his home and eight farms.

He has since received letters (eviction notices) to leave the property, but he is unwilling to do so, since, according to him, the land has belonged to Jawalla since the early 1900s. He said his portion was handed down to him by his father.

“It is my birthplace since in 1962, my father told me I am leaving you with our lands,” he told Kaieteur News via an interpreter.

“How I gon leave my crops and get away like an animal?” he questioned, adding that his troubles started last September.

It was his first encounter with an eviction notice. He recalled that he was approached with a letter requesting that he “move out” within three days.  Moore has not obeyed and has since prevented the miners from taking over his property.

Despite his resistance, he is fearful for his life as some miners would walk around with shotguns.

To verify his story, Moore, the villagers and members of the village council took Kaieteur News and another media house to an area where the miners are working and encroaching on their titled lands.

Upon their arrival, it was quite evident that villagers were indeed occupying the land before the miners came.

There was a landing that was erected by the village, and not too far away was a burial ground. Another elder of the village showed Kaieteur News the area where she grew up with her parents.

Where once covered with farmlands and natural vegetation is now replaced with wide-open spaces with huge cavities (open mining pits).

Burnt trees and those damaged by mining activities were seen almost everywhere.  Open pits were filled with stagnant and murky waters, perfect breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

The destruction of the environment was not all. The media was in for a surprise because, as they got closer to James Moore’s property, they got a first-hand look at how the miners treat villagers as they attempted to walk through what they call their own land.

Workers and the general manager of a mining operation there blocked our paths.

Risking his own safety, Moore, a few villagers and a reporter with another media entity forced their way through, while Kaieteur News and the remaining villagers caused a distraction.

The general manager argued that there was another way that Moore could have accessed the property and maintained that his boss has all the legal rights to dictate who can pass through the lands because he owns it.

Kaieteur News even joined the argument, stating that although they might have legal permits for the lands and might have helped construct a section of the access road, there is no part of the constitution that prohibits citizens from using the roads to access other properties.

The miners were not buying it and accused us of trespassing, even threatening that we could put ourselves in harm’s way if there was a security presence in the area.

When they learnt that the media were present, the miners began explaining that there are robberies taking place in the area, and they have to take security measures because we can be one of the robbers.

We accepted our defeat and turned back. The police came and reportedly took statements from the miners and even from the villagers who accompanied the media to the lands.

Unfortunately for the few villagers and the other reporter who managed to slip through unnoticed, they could not return the way they came. Instead, they had to trek for hours through dense jungle to make it back to a river.

Luckily, they were able to get footage and photos of Moore’s property and the mining operations taking place next to his home and farms.

The reporter related that those operations were indeed polluting the Suwai creek, one of the main water sources for the people of Jawalla.

Toshao Veron Henry told the media, “We therefore demand that the relevant agencies of the Government of Guyana immediately revoke the order to remove Mr. James Moore and his family from their home and to revoke all mining permits granted inside our titled lands according to our current map.”

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is reportedly using a different map to hand out mining permits than the one the villagers have.

According to the Jawalla village council, the errant GGMC map states that Jawalla’s boundary falls ‘one mile above Apiopai’, but the Jawalla title description reads ‘one mile below Apiopai’.

According to the Amerindian Lands Commission (ALC) Report, Jawalla’s title request was recorded as: ‘From Emoi Creek in the Kukui to the eastern boundary of the present District up the Mazaruni and down the Mazaruni to one mile below Apiapai Settlement.’

Refusal to address Jawalla’s concerns has led to the village refusing demarcation because it is currently seeking legal recognition of collective territory as opposed to individual, piecemeal titles.

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• Jawalla’s Toshao, Kaieteur News, National Toshaos Council, NTC Conference, President Irfaan Ali, Veron Henry

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