Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 30, 2013 Letters
Dear Editor,
The blocking of the Hururu to Kwakwani access road by residents of Hururu on the morning of Sunday 21st April 2013 and the subsequent clearing of the blockage on the evening of Thursday 25th April 2013 have left many questions unanswered in the minds of the general Guyanese populace and many of the residents of Hururu themselves.
Why did the residents take such drastic action to make their point? This could be mainly attributed mainly to the distrust that the residents have for the present council with regard to the current negotiations being held between the Company (BCGI) and the Hururu Amerindian Council for a new lease for 324 additional acres of the reservation land to construct wharf facilities and an access road. Word had circulated that the councilors were travelling to Georgetown on Monday 22nd to sign an agreement to lease the land for a meager sum of $163,000 per month as offered by the company.
Residents are already peeved at the sums being paid for two lots previously leased to the Company. The first lease of 276 acres was granted on the 1st February 2004 to then Aroaima Mining Company for a sum of $500,000 per month for the remainder of 2004 and $1,000,000 per month with effect from 1st January 2005, subject to review at 1st February 2006 and at the end of succeeding period of three years as from 1st February 2006.
In 2004 this agreement was hailed by the residents as good compensation and one that was subject to periodic review. But fourteen months later on the 7th April 2005 soon after the Bauxite Company of Guyana (BCGI) assumed management of the Aroaima Mining Company, the council agreed to amend the 2004 agreement, which in effect eliminated the triennial reviews and settled to accept the $1,000,000 for the period of validity of the agreement which could have meant twenty five years that is the term of the land lease.
The second agreement was signed on the 3rd August 2005 for a tract of land approximately 2,500 acres in size which encompassed the Kurubuka 22 Deposit. It was agreed then that the Company will pay US$80,000 per annum for the land.
On the 1st April 2006 when BCGI assumed full ownership of the Aroaima Mining Company those two agreements were consolidated into one agreement with the total sum US$140,000 per annum being paid to the Hururu Amerindian reservation for the use of the Hururu to Kwakwani access road and the mining area of the Kurubuka 22 deposit. The review period of that contract is 9 years and 9 months. So the first review will fall due on February 1st 2016.
The Company paid to the council the stipulated sum of approximately G$2,400,000 per month in cash and kind, and more so in kind than cash, since the agreement was signed.
Two other agreements were entered into with the company. The first was for the supply of electricity to the village. This was provided at the expense of the village. From 2006 to 2010 the villagers were being charged varying sums ranging from $1M to $1.7M per month for the supply of electricity. All cables and workmanship were charged to the village and were deducted from their monthly tribute. The wattage of electricity consumed by the village was being charged at a rate of approximately $100 per Kwh – the highest rate in the entire country. After objections were raised, the rates were reduced in December 2010 to $54 per Kwh, similar to what is being paid by residents on the coastland. Were the millions of dollars deducted for the overcharging of the residents for electricity from 2006 to 2010 ever reimbursed to the village? Did the council pursue this reimbursement?
The second agreement was for the provision of a water well and distribution of potable water to the central parts of the village. The Company engaged a contractor to drill the well. Several millions were paid for the drilling of the well yet the residents still have to cross the river to fetch water from the neighbouring village of Ladern’s Ville, because the water is unsuitable for consumption. The village paid huge sums of money for a facility that is virtually useless. These two social agreements have placed severe financial burdens on a village that is rapidly expanding in numbers.
Given the track record of the council in negotiations with the company, it is no wonder that the residents of Hururu wanted to know more of the finer details of the impending agreement that is to be signed between the Bauxite Company of Guyana (BCGI) and the village council of Hururu. In fact they should have been kept informed all the way.
Section 47 (2) of the Amerindian Act states:”If a lease is to be granted to a non-resident or if a lease granted to a non-resident is to be amended, the Village Council shall call a Village general meeting and obtain the consent of at least seventy-five percent of those present and entitled to vote at the Village general meeting.” Was the Village council seeking this level of agreement from the Villagers? If they were they could not have had that spontaneous rebellion.
This third land lease that the company requires is for an area of 324 acres to establish an access road to the river from the Kurubuka 22 mine and to construct a wharf facility at that location. Residents claimed that the offer the Company made to the council was for the sum of G$163,000 per month. This is far less than they are paying for the Hururu to Kwakwani roadway
The Hururu to Kwakwani roadway is utilized by the residents of Hururu, residents of Kwakwani and the Company. There are no restrictions on the use of this road. The new road to the waterfront and wharf facilities would be exclusively private to the company, yet they are offering less than they pay for the Hururu to Kwakwani road.
Even worse, without any written agreement, the Company has already bulldozed a road to the waterfront. They have ventured outside of the limits of the mining lease, destroyed valuable marketable logs and covered over felled logs of residents. This is in violation of section 49 (2) (d) of the Amerindian Act which states:”the miner shall take all reasonable steps to avoid (i) damage to the environment: (iv) damage to or disruption of the flora and fauna; (v) disruption of resident’s normal activities.”
All of that without a written agreement to venture outside of the mining lease, without payment of any compensation to the village for that tract of land or to the affected residents. Yet the Company in its “Message to Hururu Amerindian Villagers” in section 12, boasts of being “a law abiding Company, established and ruled by the law of Guyana” and considered the actions of the villagers “as illegal and piratical”. In true Guyanese terms we would refer to that as, “pot telling kettle e bottom black.” Yet the Councilors were preparing to travel to Georgetown to possibly enter into an agreement for low rates for the new tract of land that the company required.
These disconnects between the residents and the Village Councilors prompted the residents to take measures into their own hands. On Sunday morning they blocked the Hururu to Kwakwani road forcing the company to take the longer route to transport their workers to Kwakwani via the Bamboo Landing trail. Should the residents have blocked the road in breach of an agreement with the company? How many of the residents knew of the fine details of the agreement?
What they knew was that they were being restricted from accessing their work area and that the Company was about to be rewarded with a cheap contract and they wanted none of that.
On the reopening of the road and a fresh round of negotiations, the word is that the Company has decided to unilaterally impose a fine on the Village to recover the Company’s losses. It is claimed that the sum stated is $750,000 per month for a questionable number of months. So the management of BCGI has assumed the role of Guyana’s high court to award compensation unto themselves, they too have taken the law into their own hands, a most law-abiding Company. The same company that unilaterally derecognized the workers’ trade union in this country and where the Government cannot rectify that breach of our labour laws by a foreign Company.
It must be pointed out that the land lease agreements that are in effect were entered before the Amerindian Act Chapter 29:01 was enacted. So there are now other issues there that the Amerindian Affairs Ministry, The Hururu Amerindian Council and the Bauxite Company of Guyana need to address.
Of crucial importance is the issue of tribute payable for minerals obtained from village lands. Article 51 (1) states: “A miner shall pay the village tribute of at least seven percent of the value of any minerals obtained from village lands from small or medium scale mining”. Article 51 (2) states: “A miner shall negotiate in good faith with a village the amount of tribute to be paid for minerals obtained from village lands from large scale mining and in the case where the village has refused its consent such tribute shall be agreed between the Minister and the miner before the mining activities commence” .
BCGI would fall under the category of large scale mining. It is mining bauxite and bauxite is an aluminum ore and is the main source of aluminum. Stripping has commenced at Kurubuka 22 so in effect mining has commenced. What is the agreed amount of tribute to be paid for minerals obtained from the Hururu Amerindian village lands? This issue needs to be addressed now rather than have the residents disrupting the company’s activities to ask for answers.
Throughout these negotiations the councilors have never had legal advice; they have always trusted the Amerindian Affairs Ministry to act in their best interest. This needs to be corrected and the village needs to have access to legal advice when negotiating any contract, more so when negotiating with a foreign company whose representatives are not fluent in the English language.
Victor Kersting
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
Apr 19, 2024
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