…mining association calls for CoI into Brazilian’s death
The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has called for a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to be launched into the death of a Brazilian miner who was shot and killed on Saturday by two Police Officers in Puruni, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
The Association made calls via a strongly worded statement to the media on Wednesday which highly condemned the action, and more so the officers, who committed that act.
“No one in the Government is doing anything to help miners, they are just applying pressure. We are demanding our respect… there seems to be no one in charge of the mining sector and the Government is yet to articulate its policy on continued mining in Guyana,” the GGDMA stated in the release.
The organisation bashed the Finance Ministry for not addressing issues within the sector.
“When the Minister of Finance takes to the media to bemoan and lament the dismal performance of the Guyanese economy, he must address the outstanding issues under his portfolio that are negatively impacting the industry and then look squarely in the face of his colleagues who, for the last four years, have mismanaged and neglected the industry which carried Guyana on its back,” the GGDMA added in its release.
In addition, the body said it has taken note of the increasing levels of bullyism which is seemingly going unnoticed by the Government, which is clearly responsible for the downturn in the mining sector.
“There is an increasing level of bullyism taking place and public officers are clearly operating outside the law without consequence… death, corruption and frustration are now the pillars on which the current Government seems to be moulding the industry”. The Association against this backdrop said that “Mining is surely on the down turn and the blame for this lies squarely at the feet of the current Government”.
It complained that is has now been more than three years since the coalition Government took office and the President is still refusing to meet with the largest Private Sector employer in the country. “We will not take it anymore.”
Meanwhile, an autopsy conducted on the 37-year-old miner’s body on Wednesday suggested that he died as a result of a single gunshot wound to his head. Reports are that the bullet entered the man’s head from the back and exited the front.
It was reported that Estevão Marquês Costa was shot and killed by two Police Officers; one has since admitted to the killing.
The two Police Officers were taken into custody after they allegedly murdered the Brazilian miner in Puruni, Region Seven and attempted to get rid of the body on Saturday last.
It was reported that a Subordinate and a Constable – who are stationed at the Kurupung Police Station – abandoned their post on Friday and reportedly left on an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) to patrol the area but for some reason left their jurisdiction via a boat and went to a landing in Puruni.
Upon their arrival in the area, the Police Constable reportedly exited the boat and went to a shop a short distance from the landing while his subordinating officer reportedly waited in the boat.
Soon after a loud explosion was heard and the other officer who remained in the boat was told by the Constable that the miner discharged a round at him and in retaliation, he returned fire. This was however refuted but the mother of the now dead man who has accused the Police of murdering her son.
She told detectives that her son was shot at close range by the Constable. The officers, she claimed, even made attempts to burn her son’s body but the miners stopped same from happening.
The two ranks remain in custody as investigations continue.
