By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
CHINESE LANDING, REGION ONE — Three years after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued precautionary measures ordering the state to protect the Indigenous Carib community of Chinese Landing, residents are locked in a tense, four-day standoff to block heavy mining equipment from encroaching on their titled ancestral lands.
The latest confrontation began when heavy machinery—including four excavators and a bulldozer associated with coastlander miner Wayne Vieira—entered the titled village territory without obtaining the required approval from the Village Council.
Round-the-Clock Blockade at Tassawini
While equipment operators claimed the machinery was intended solely for roadway maintenance, residents viewed the deployment as a pretext to resume and expand unauthorized mining within the disputed Tassawini area.
An operator acting under authority, Stephen Vieira, confirmed on-site that village permission was never requested before bringing the heavy machines onto titled communal lands.
Speaking to HGP Nightly News, Chinese Landing Toshao Nikita Miller asserted that villagers have established a 24-hour physical blockade at Tassawini to safeguard their customary boundaries.
“And I tell him, I said, we are not allowing this machinery to pass. No matter how long it takes, we will be here day and night,” Toshao Nikita Miller insisted.
Breaches of Statutory Consent and the Amerindian Act
Under Section 48 of the Amerindian Act of 2006 and the Mining Act, external mining operators are legally required to obtain the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Village Council and a two-thirds majority of residents before moving heavy machinery or commencing extractive work on titled Indigenous property.
Toshao Miller confirmed that no consultation took place prior to the convoy’s arrival:
- No Prior Consultation: When asked if any prior talks occurred, Miller answered: “No, never.”
- Lack of State Intervention: Miller indicated that she contacted Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, providing photographic evidence of the standoff. According to the Toshao, the Minister responded that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) was in discussions with the miners, but no enforcement officers were deployed to halt the equipment.
Ongoing Human Rights Concerns
The incident follows the July 2023 decision by the IACHR granting Precautionary Measure No. 263-22, which directed the Government of Guyana to protect the physical integrity, health, and land tenure rights of Chinese Landing residents against threats, mercury pollution, and intimidation from outside miners.
Efforts by HGP Nightly News to obtain comment from Minister of Amerindian Affairs Sarah Browne-Shadeek were unsuccessful at broadcast time, as the Minister indicated she was unavailable to speak.
