To understand the Guyana’s Amerindian mining
problem you have to put the problem into context and understand the history.
The British colonial rule In Guyana was one that neglected the land and only
was thought of to have natural resources. The gold mining enterprises that were
established in the 20th and 19th century kept bringing
investors to Guyana. The gold mines only brought low paying jobs and some weak
contracts that did not benefit the Amerindians. The little health care and
education for the Amerindians was left up to Christian missionaries.
The Amerindian Protection Ordinance of 1902,
provided indigenous people with the right to use the fruits of the lands, but
denied rights to the underground mineral wealth (Minority Rights) while another
wave of regulations in 1903 and 1905 introduced that even though the
Amerindians did not have sub surface rights, the their land was legally theirs.
The 1978 Amerindian Act allowed for titling of land to both individuals and
communities, but in practice little was carried out. The Amerindian Peoples
Association and the North-South Institute have been the main leaders in the
push for Amerindian land titles and recognition by the government. Most
indigenous communities in the interior remained unaware of the availability or
the need for land titling and logging, and mining continued. “The last years,
there has been a huge increase in licenses for mining activities from 200,000
acres to 2 million.”(Vereecke 1994) This is becoming a problem and the only way
to solve it is by informing the Amerindians of what is happening to their land.
The Guyanese government has failed to control and regulate the encroachment of
the mining companies on Amerindian land. Government agencies such as the Guyana
Forestry Commission and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission are unfamiliar
with laws put in place to protect land titles.(Bulkan 2016 pg.372) Both of
these government agencies have continuously given permits to mining companies
that overlap with Amerindian land. The government doesn’t seem willing to give
the effort to change these violations. Without NGOs like the Amerindian Peoples
Association pushing for these laws and regulations, it would be hard for
Amerindian people to have a voice. The government elite are taking advantage of
the Amerindians by giving permits to mining companies on Amerindian land.
In 2003 a fourteen-member Parliamentary Select
Committee make recommendations for the revision of the 1978 Amerindian Act.
Among other things this lead to the formation of the National Amerindian
Council, which is an umbrella-organization that brings together representatives
of NGOs such as Amerindian Peoples association and other regionally-based
Amerindian organizations. The formation of the National Amerindian Council was
big step in improving communications and developing representation with the
Guyana government and Mining companies. Some of the topics introduced were the
inadequacy of land, resource rights and the use of the term ‘Amerindian' rather
than ‘indigenous'. The three largest NGO in the organization, APA, the
Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana, and the Guyana organization of Indigenous
People want the 1978 Amerindian removed entirely because of its lack of impact.
The new Amerindian Act was passed in Parliament and signed by the president in
March 2006. The Amerindian Act should be amended to stop mining of natural
resources on the land occupied by Amerindian people that didn’t give consent
and the Amerindian should be allowed to supervise mining operation so they can
stop the mining if its on their land. Amerindians land make up about 13% of
Guyana which is on top of a lot of valuable natural resources that mining
companies are after. Even with new Amerindian Act village leaders still lack
the power to control the Mining operations that are taking place in and around
their villages. They are also unable to affect the activities of miners and
loggers either in the mining of resources or which they remove young Amerindian
men and women to the unfamiliar cultural environment of the coastland where
they risk of being involved in illegal activities. Many mining companies such
as Golden Star Resources, Cathedral Mining, and Guyana Goldfields still have
large-scale operations within the Amerindian land titles.
Amerindian population is vulnerable to the
negative effects brought by gold mining. The issues facing indigenous groups of
Guyana are related to lack of empowerment, their marginal status within the
overall society and the affect this has on their self-determination as
indigenous people. This marginalization of Amerindians put them at a
disadvantage when negotiating land titles. Amerindians also fear the increased
rates of prostitution, drug use, and murder that go with the gold-mining
operations in their territory. Indigenous women are susceptible to rape and
abuse at the hands of non-indigenous miners and may become trapped in
prostitution as a means to support themselves. The rate of STDs and AIDs is
high among mining workers and many of the Amerindians come to the mining camps
because of their poor living conditions and lack of jobs.
The loss of land from mining is devastating to
Amerindian communities because they primarily support themselves through
farming and basically living off the land. Though 75 percent of the country is
still covered in forest, the boom in world-wide gold prices over the past five
years has attracted both foreign investors and artisanal mining groups. The
amount of gold produced in Guyana jumped 23 percent between 2009 and 2011 and
is expected to continue to grow. (Purdy 2013)The loss of land is devastating to
communities that primarily support themselves through subsistence farming, and
the pollution from the mining operations contaminates water sources, harming
humans, vegetation, and animals. Mercury is a contaminant that can cause
blindness, speech impairment, cardiovascular disease, memory loss, and fatigue
and is especially dangerous to pregnant women and young children, is commonly
used in gold mining with the drilling machines. Guyana’s waterways have been
become polluted from hazardous waste and have contaminated the Amerindians
water source from drinking water, bathing water, and the mining has turned some
of the rivers and streams into sewage leaks. “Brazilian Garimpeiros have
developed a reputation in Guyana’s interior region for rapacious mining
practices that ignore even the most basic environmental regulations.”
(Roopnarine 2002 pg. 86) Pollution is also a major problem for the aquatic life
that the Amerindians live off of. Fishing is one of the main sources of living
for the Amerindians. The World Wildlife Fund and the Canadian Development
agency have been active testing the waterways for mercury and come to the
conclusion that the fish samples have tested for way beyond the safe limit.
Guyana has sought permission to be exempted from the UN’s newly drafted
Minimata Convention on Mercury Despite undeniable evidence that mercury
contamination is devastating to miners, jewelers, and inhabitants of the land
near gold-mining operations, Guyana argued that such a ban would damage their
growing economy. In July, Guyana banned gold-mining directly from rivers in an
attempt to address growing complaints of contaminated drinking water.
The Wapichan village of Shulinab currently holds
2.8 million hectra of ancestrial territory but only 15% of that land holds land
titles. (Fredericks 2016) Much of the land that is untitled is vulnerable to
Mining. Discussions between the Wapichan village and the Ministry of Indigenous
Peoples Affairs will begin in May 2016. Many NGOs including Oxfam, rights and
resource Initiative, and Forest Peoples Programme have put together a
collective assemble with the Wapichan village. The project called the Global
Call to Action on Indigenous peoples that aims to effectively and fairly
acquire land titles for the Wapichan tribe. The The Wapichan village’s goal is
make the largest community forest sizing over 1.4 million acres of land is that
helps with the conservation efforts. “The Global Call to Action on Indigenous
and Community Land Rights is a growing alliance among communities, indigenous
peoples, local civil society organizations and international NGOs to call for
action and close the gap between the 10 percent of land currently under the
control of indigenous peoples and local communities and the 50 percent that is
estimated as their customary right. The alliance is calling on governments,
intergovernmental bodies and international agencies to take actions to double
the global area of land legally recognized as owned or controlled by indigenous
peoples and local communities by 2020” (Fredericks 2016)
Roopnarine,
Lomarsh. 2002. “Wounding Guyana: Gold Mining and Environmental Degradation”. Revista Europea De Estudios Latinoamericanos
Y Del Caribe / European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
"Indigenous
Peoples - Minority Rights." Minority Rights. World Directory of Minorities
and Indigenous Peoples. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
http://minorityrights.org/minorities/indigenous-peoples-3/
Fredericks,
Nicholas. "Press Release: Wapichan People in Guyana Join Global Call to
Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights to Boost Efforts to Secure Their
Lands." Forest Peoples Programme.
7 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/territorial-management-planning/news/2016/03/press-release-wapichan-people-guyana-join-global>.
Bulkan,
Janette. "The Struggle For Recognition Of The Indigenous Voice:
Amerindians In Guyanese Politics." Round
Table 102.4 (2013): 367. MasterFILE
Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Purdy,
Britnae. "Amerindians of Guyana Don’t Have Right to Gold on Their
Land." First Peoples Worldwide.
07 Feb. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. <http://firstpeoples.org/wp/amerindians-of-guyana-dont-have-right-to-gold-on-their-land-says-high-court/>.
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