12 NEWS Micobie facing degradation GCCI condemns violence from illegal mining – APA meted out against women SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
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Evidence of the illegal mining at Micobie which has resulted in an intervention (APA photo)
he Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) has raised serious concerns over the act of illegal mining on lands at Micobie village, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), resulting in environmental degradation. The situation was observed by its Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialist and Forest Policy Officer during a visit to the community earlier this month. Land degradation is described as a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. This disturbance to the land is most often undesirable. At the Micobie area under question, a large portion of the land has already been washed away and is moving closer to the forest resources. Guyana Times understands that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is aware of the issue and has
issued a removal order to the owner of the illegal dredge. While illegal mining and logging have long been problems for the Government and the source of revenue leakages, the new Administration is clamping down on the scourge, conducting operations over the past month that resulted in illegal logs being seized and the destruction of illegal mines. Last month, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat during an interview with the media said that when the PPP Government took office, illegal mining and logging were very prevalent. Bharrat noted that one way they have been addressing the problem is by interagency collaboration, between the Guyana Defence Force (GDF); Prime Minister, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips, who once headed the GDF; the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and other agencies. “Upon assuming of-
fice, what we found is that there have been a lot of illegal mining and logging as well. We’ve been clamping down on illegal logging as well. We’ve seized a number of logs in the past month. Mining is the same issue. A lot of illegal mining,” Minister Bharrat explained. Apart from communities in the interior, even the Iwokrama International Centre discovered more evidence of illegal activities within the reservation and reminded of the penalties as outlined in the Iwokrama Act. Three weeks ago, the Centre said during planned monitoring and enforcement exercises in the week of October 16, Iwokrama staffers along with Natural Resources Ministry Corp of Wardens and the Guyana Police Force witnessed more intrusions of illegal mining operations, not only in the Iwokrama protected forest, but also in the one-kilometre buffer zone on the other side of the Siparuni River.a
ollowing the recent spike in the number of domestic violence cases against women, the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has publicly condemned such actions perpetrated against the female populace. GCCI said It is with much disdain and pain that there have been increasing reports in the media of such incidents which leave much to be desired. “Domestic violence culminating in fatality is even more sad as oftentimes children are left motherless and relatives are left to grieve. It is common knowledge that women are the backbone of our families and communities as they play an integral role in the moulding of our future generations. Concurrent with domestic violence is the psychological damage and physical harm that is attendant to the victim, and children and persons who may have witnessed same” the GCCI stated in a release to the media. Further, the organisation stated that Guyana’s law on domestic violence is very clear as it strictly prohibits same and allows victims recourse to the Magistrate’s Courts to seek redress in the form of protection and other orders. “A comprehensive national survey, the first of its kind conducted by the Guyana Bureau
of Statistics with support from the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), UN Women, UNDP, USAID, the Global Women’s Institute of George Washington University and the University of Guyana and released in the last quarter of 2019 revealed startling data that more than half (55%) of all women in Guyana between the ages of 15-64 experienced at least one form of violence at the hands of their partner”, the statement read. GCCI posited that the report titled “Guyana Women’s Health and Life Experiences Survey (WHLES)” indicated that in Guyana, 38 per cent of women [surveyed] have experienced physical and/or sexual violence, above the global average. “It unveiled that while the global estimates show that 1 in 3 women worldwide experiences either
physical and/or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner at some point in their lives, that in Guyana, this was 1 in every 2 women”, they said. For a population of our size, the chamber said these statistics reflect dismally on the Guyanese society and are totally unacceptable. They added that it is also suggestive of a tolerance level which we need to dispel. “Collectively, as stakeholders, be it Government agencies, education and enforcement arms, Private Sector, religious organisations and non-governmental organisations; we have to urgently work together to wipe out the scourge of this disease coined domestic violence that is plaguing us and impacting on our country’s socioeconomic strata. Our womenfolk must feel and be protected”, they alluded.
