Latest update December 17th, 2024 3:32 AM
Manganese Company must adhere to commitments at Matthews Ridge – Jagdeo
By Shervin Belgrave
Kaieteur News – Vice-president (VP) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has committed to ensuring that Chinese owned Manganese Company, Guyana Manganese Inc. (GMI) fulfils all commitments signed on to at the time mining licences were granted to it.
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo
Jagdeo made the commitment on Thursday during a press conference held at his party’s headquarters on Robb Street, Georgetown.
Guyana Manganese Inc. operates in Matthews Ridge, North West District, Region One and according to the Vice President, the company’s management believes that it has no obligation to fulfil the commitments made by former owner Reunion Manganese, a Canadian Company.
In response to questions posed by the Kaieteur News, Jagdeo said that the residents have also complained to him during an outreach to the community in May. The residents told Kaieteur News that access to a dam and access road in the Lower Pakera area have been destroyed by the company and was never rebuilt or repaired.
When asked if he had received any feedback from GMI Jagdeo told Kaieteur News, “…So I undertook to get them to make sure that they do meet their commitments and it is not just one issue, it is several issues”.
Jagdeo explained that the licences for manganese mining in the area were granted to Reunion Manganese Inc., a Canadian company. The Canadian owner, according to Jagdeo made a lot of promises and commitments that it would upkeep the Mathews Ridge Community.
“Reunion then sold out to the Chinese, BOSAI, so somehow they [Chinese] believe that… BOSAI believes that the commitments no longer hold but the commitments have to be met because they had quite a bit of concessions granted to them,” Jagdeo said.
The VP related that his government is not only going to meet with company on one issue that is affecting the residents but several commitments that it has failed to meet.
The Broken Dam
In September 2021, a dam and access road to a community at Lower Pakera, Matthews Ridge was completely washed away. It was reported back then by media that “a koker blocked by GMI had broken away causing flooding to the main access roads, to a number of nearby farms, and had caused several residents to seek refuge in trees, as they waited for the waters to recede”.
GMI had promised to assess the situation but it took them one year to attempt building back the dam. In August 2022, the company erected a concrete structure and partially repaired the dam but it broke away again.
Since then, the company did no further works on the dam and has simply abandoned the reservoir and built another one to continue its operations while the residents of Lower Pakera continue to struggle with a broken dam.
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