I REFER to Carl Parker’s letter in the Kaieteur News in its issue of Wednesday March 13th, 2013, under the caption, ‘The fallout from the Marudi will be far-reaching’. Please permit me to state the following:1. APNU’s Lethem creature Carl Parker’s letter is a long one which does not deserve the costs for ink and paper for its publication. Nevertheless, because of its misleading nature to score cheap political points for his party in failure, I will respond to a few of the matters raised.
2. The problem in the Marudi Mountain area is simply and basically a matter of illegal mining. Gold and other minerals remain the absolute property of the state and no one else, hence the importance of the Ministry of Natural Resources & the Environment and the GGMC to take the necessary measures to curb illegal mining wherever they occur and to regularise. In this regard, these state bodies must be applauded.
3. Parker like his party, the PNC/APNU, believes in lawlessness which saw him supporting illegal mining in the Rupununi and this tells why he was unceremoniously removed from Aishalton while he was the District Development Officer (DDO) and taken to Lethem for protection. Parker therefore should have been the least to write and speak on the Marudi mining situation, since he is not qualified to do so.
4. Parker in his letter said that the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce (RCC) is quiet on the Marudi mining issue. But the RCC is quite in order to be quiet since it does not support any venture that is illegal or which violates the laws of Guyana. Simple as that, Parker.
5. But Parker himself is quiet on the accessory role of the Romanex Security who was strategically positioned with weapon in hand while the brutality was in progress at Marudi. Is it that Parker is simply being a Judas to the Marudi miners?
6. Parker must be assured that the government is currently working in close collaboration with the Rupununi Miners Association (RMA) to rapidly bring about an amicable solution to the grievance of the small miners in the Rupununi. A special mining lottery will be held on March 30th, 2013 at Lethem for small miners and residents of the Rupununi. This activity will therefore bring legality to mining in the Rupununi.
7. Parker in his letter supporting illegal mining said, “These people can claim the area as ancestral lands”. He was referring to Amerindians here. But what does Parker know about ancestral lands? This is not mentioned in the State Lands Act, neither in the Amerindian Act 2006. Amerindian Communities can however at any time apply for a Grant of State Lands under sections 59&60 of the Amerindian Act, 2006.
8. Parker in his letter said, “over 7000 persons between Lethem and Marudi will be affected by the economic fallout”. Parker included 13 Amerindian communities that will be affected as a result of the stoppage of illegal mining. What economic fallout? As I pointed out, the government and the Rupununi Miners Association (RMA) will soon bring to a conclusion the matter of illegal mining in the Rupununi. Further, I am shocked at 11 out of the 13 Amerindian communities that Parker claims will be affected as a result of the illegal mining stoppage. These communities of South and South Central Rupununi were instrumental in the production of a booklet titled: ‘WA Wiizi Wakaduzu’ which means “our territory, our custom” in the Wapichan or Wapishana language. This booklet detailed the ‘Customary use of Biological resources and related traditional practices within Wapichan territory in Guyana’. Page 18 of this booklet in its third paragraph states “a few people engage in small-scale, artisanal mining in the deep south. Like other Commercial work, this activity is mainly seasonal.” 
Footnote 33 states:  “Although mining tends to be part- time, our communities and leaders have growing concerns about the long-term social, cultural and health impacts of mining on our communities.” 
Mr. Editor, if this is so, then Parker is blatantly a liar when he said that over 7000 persons will be affected as a result of the halt in illegal mining. If not, the 11 Wapichan communities of the Rupununi are not being consistent with their traditional practices mentioned in their booklet, which further supports my contention that Amerindians in Guyana are currently engaged in mining as a commercial venture. 
This, however, is absolutely not a problem provided that such mining is lawfully carried out.