Sukhai suspends Campbelltown toshao over claims...
being conducted but the Minister’s actions has made it hard to believe that a fair investigation will be conducted. She noted that it is provided for by law that an individual be given a fair chance to respond and defend themselves against an allegation but so far that was not done as they are still not privy to the contents of the petition.
“Presently we still haven’t received any copy of the petition so to date we don’t have proof that a petition was filed against the council and they are coming to do an investigation which I have no objection to but whatever they are doing is not in keeping with the laws. So when the investigation starts we don’t have confidence that it’s going to happen in the correct way and that we are going to be treated fairly as the actions by the Minister clearly shows that minister is not giving us a fair investigation and under the constitution of Guyana we have to right as an individual to be heard and to also defend ourselves and the we must be given enough time and we must be given correct information,” she said.
In a previous report, Thomas said the decision to limit mining activities by the village council was based on the advice of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), which found the operations unsafe.
She explained that in mid-September there was a gold rush within the community and this brought many artisanal miners to the area who immediately started conducting mining activities. She noted that since then, these small- scale miners worked 24/7 until recently when the GGMC issued a cease order demanding that all mining activities in the community be stopped until the safety issues were resolved.
Thomas added that on the October 6, GGMC made its first official visit to the area where the gold was discovered. During its visit, she said, the GGMC officers conducted an inspection of the area and concluded that it was very unsafe to do mining in that specific area. In addition, she said, they were told that they had to make the area safer for people to do mining activities.
Based on the advice given by the GGMC officials, she said, the village council decided that they would do their best to make the area safe for the miners and so they held a meeting in the area and explained to the miners that they would have to stop working for 3 days so the area can be “fixed.” However, some residents were displeased with the decision of the council and later petitioned to have them removed.
No mining activities have been conducted in the community of more than 900 residents since October 20th.