Miners disturbed by interior robberies
Too many tent shops, not enough police
By Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
February 1, 2003
A group of miners, including Brazilians, yesterday met with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds to discuss the increasing incidents of crime in the hinterland region.
Just recently, a Brazilian miner was robbed and murdered in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni Region by gunmen and several others have complained of being ambushed and their minerals stolen.
Part of the delegation that met with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds yesterday
In the mid-morning brief yesterday at Hinds' Wight's Lane office the miners said that the influx of bandits is due to the absence of a police outpost in the Eping and Perinong areas.
Very often, they told the Prime Minister, unidentified persons move into the area under the guise of being miners or shopkeepers, but instead they spy on the legal miners.
These people are said to be operating under crude tents made out of tarpaulins on poles, called `Kyamoos', which reportedly offer prostitution services, drugs and alcohol. They also give cover to bandits operating in the area, the miners said.
"The most they do is say they are punters...But they are not working with anybody. They know when you are washing down, they know how much diamonds you wash down, what day you wash down. Everything they know...They watching you," one member of the group stated.
Edward Shields, Executive Secretary of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners' Association, who led the delegation, said the miners were asking for a police outpost in the area of their operation and that the Enachu Police Station, the nearest precinct, be upgraded. Shields said more ranks were definitely needed.
"They are all concerned about the kyamoo shops (the mobile shops). They are concerned that when shops are established illegally, instead of the GGMC [the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission] closing the shops down, they are going in and regularising these shops, which is just regularising problems. They [the miners] may need a few shops, but they certainly don't need all these shops. At present, the landing at Perinong has over 40 shops, which has created a situation of almost a robbery each day," Shields said.
The issue of only persons with permission being on the land was also raised, but the Prime Minister pointed out that persons do not need a licence to traverse, or occupy their own country.
"That used to be the way before...but, more and more, the general feeling around the world is that you can't just keep a citizen out from a place in his country. So I rather suspect that it is not anymore the thing for people to show why they must be in a particular part of the country. People have freedom to move within their country of citizenship...you can't just exclude them like that."
Another concern of the miners is that police checkpoints are lax.
"They [the police] are not demanding identification. If I tell the police that my name is [John Jones], he would write down [John Jones]. He wouldn't question me about anything, and there are a lot of people who cannot be identified in the bush. That is why there are criminals. We don't know who they are...the most we might call them is `Short Man' or `Rasta'...We need to identify these people but it is difficult," a miner said.
The delegation feels that if more of them are granted firearm licences then they would be able to assist the police in their fight against crime.
Another miner reported that prior to the murder of the Brazilian, he was shot at and robbed by two masked men. Through an interpreter, the Portuguese-speaking miner told the Prime Minister that he was crossing a bridge on his 4X4 motorbike to take his diamonds out when two men emerged from the bush, shot at him and robbed him.
The man further stated that two days before that, four bandits attacked and robbed his neighbour of his gems.
"We are just afraid to work in there. We can't work in there with the situation," a woman in the delegation said.
The miners said they were prepared to stand the expenses for a police team to "sweep" the area of criminals. During the meeting the Prime Minister contacted Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, who agreed to speak with some members of the group on Monday.
Hinds recognised the contribution of Brazilians to the local mining sector and said: "The government welcomes people in the country, particularly in various economic activities, and on the one hand, we expect them to adhere to the law, and on the other hand, we need to assure them that they will also have the protection of the law. We need to equip our security forces and encourage the communities to actively support law and order...We have increased our monies spent [on the armed forces], maybe double over, the last year and it will take some time to train the police and the soldiers to handle or manage these new types of crime."
The miners concerns come amid a national problem where Georgetown and outlying areas have been engulfed in serious crimes since last year.
