After four days of a standoff at Chinese Landing, residents last night reported that mining equipment they had blocked was being returned to a barge, signalling a possible retreat by a miner who has been at the centre of long-running feud with the community.
A resident who spoke to Kiskadee Watch on condition of anonymity shared that three excavators have been loaded on to the barge, with one more remaining on the land along with a bulldozer. While all of the equipment came together, he said he is not sure why the two are being left off. It can possibly be that they have taken a break for the night and will resume loading them this morning.
However, he said that the village continues to remain in the dark regarding the operations there. “Nobody approached us to tell us what is happening. They are not communicating with us because they are angry,” he said.
The resident said this latest development brings some amount of relief to the community. “It’s been four days and people have been there night after night, day after day. It was very frustrating.”
However, he noted that the villagers are still on high alert as rumours have it that the miner wants to pursue another route to get the equipment into the titled lands.
“We heard that they plan to use another route to go in, but we don’t know how true that is. If they try to do that, we are on alert. There is also another village they can use; we have to monitor all of these points,” he said.
Th residents of Chinese Landing-Tassawini had entered a fourth day yesterday of standing guard against heavy-duty mining equipment linked to businessman Wayne Vieira, with Toshao Nikita Miller telling Kiskadee Watch that the machinery remains in place and the community has received no direct intervention from the government.
“Day four we’re out here. Everything is still on site. Nothing has moved,” Miller said, explaining that the Region One residents have been maintaining a continuous presence to prevent the equipment from proceeding into the community’s titled lands.
According to Miller, 32 residents were on the ground during the day yesterday, while between eight and 10 people will be taking turns keeping watch during the night. “We’re not allowing them to do anything. Residents are camped out there,” Miller declared.
She said the Village Council had repeatedly sought government intervention but was told that officials’ hands were tied because of a 2017 ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
She acknowledged, though, that Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat was in contact with her and informed her that the matter is being discussed with the miner. However, she noted that the village council itself had not been included in those discussions. “GGMC is talking with the miner. The village itself is not involved. No one has reached out to us,” she said.
Bharrat confirmed to Kiskadee Watch yesterday that the two sides are engaged in discussions facilitated by his ministry. “The two parties are in talks facilitated by the Ministry of Natural Resources to find a workable beneficial solution,” he shared.
Meanwhile, Toshao Miller described the situation as emotionally exhausting. “It affects me mentally. You just want to break down. You cry when you see these things happen and the government is not helping. It hurts your heart what Amerindians are facing with,” she shared, adding that these are not ordinary businessmen that they are up against.
Opposition condemns govt’s handling
The Office of the Leader of the Opposition yesterday condemned the government’s handling of the dispute, accusing the administration of failing to protect the Indigenous Carib community of Chinese Landing. The Office called for the Ministry of Natural Resources and GGMC to immediately lift the mining ban imposed against the Village Council while stopping Vieira’s “unauthorized and destructive operations.”
It also accused the government of applying a “double standard” by allowing Vieira to resume mining while the Village Council remains barred from mining, despite the village’s appeal having not received a hearing since late 2025.
The opposition said the community received communal title in 1976 and an absolute grant in 1991, while Vieira was subsequently granted mining rights within the area. It further accused the government of failing to implement directives issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
In July 2023, the IACHR granted precautionary measures for the Chinese Landing community after allegations that residents faced threats, harassment and violence linked to their opposition to mining activities. The Commission required Guyana to take immediate, culturally appropriate measures to protect residents and to consult directly with the beneficiaries on those measures.
The opposition said the arrival of the heavy machinery amounted to a further failure to respect the community’s rights and its right to free, prior and informed consent. It called for all Vieira’s operations to cease until the pending legal matters are addressed, mediation is completed and the community gives its consent.
The dispute intensified last week after residents blocked heavy equipment from being transported into the community in light of the latest mining operations associated with Vieira.
The Chinese Landing-Tassawini Village Council said on August 21 that at least nine excavators, two bulldozers and several dredge engines had been brought into the area on barges. The council said the equipment was taken into the village without its operators notifying or obtaining permission from the local authority and that, to the best of its knowledge, the machinery was registered to Vieira, who holds several disputed mining blocks within the village’s title.
Video released by the council showed residents confronting the operator of one of the machines and ordering him to turn back. The confrontation became heated, with residents objecting after the operator reportedly referred to them as “jackasses.” At one point, a man and woman climbed onto the machine, prompting the driver to switch it off. The operator eventually turned the machine around and left the area with the other workers.
The council said the confrontation occurred after Miller left Tassawini Landing at about 3:30 p.m. for the mission and miners began what it described as an attempt to bully residents who had remained behind to monitor the equipment.
It said residents blocked the road into the Tassawini Backdam after a GGMC mines officer stationed there indicated that he was either unable or unwilling to prevent the equipment from entering Vieira’s mining blocks.
The Village Council has maintained that Vieira cannot lawfully conduct mining on the community’s titled lands without its consent and has called on the Ministry of Natural Resources and GGMC to halt the operations while mediation and pending legal proceedings continue.
The council said it had been engaged in good-faith discussions with Vieira to find an interim solution while the community’s court case remains pending, but argued that Vieira’s preparations for mining while those discussions continue undermine the mediation process.
Land title predates Vieira’s mining rights
Meanwhile, documents posted by the Village Council on its Facebook page on Monday also shed further light on the long-running dispute over the land.
A copy of the village’s land grant shows that then-President Desmond Hoyte granted the Chinese Landing (Homesteads) Village Council the tract of state land occupied by the Amerindian community.
The document was recorded by the Department of Lands and Surveys on September 23, 1991, but states that the grant took effect from April 24, 1976.
It describes the land as being granted to the Village Council “absolutely and forever” for and on behalf of the Amerindian community occupying the tract. The boundaries include the Barama River, Waini River and Huri Creek.
Vieira’s subsequent mining permits expressly refer to lands that are “lawfully held or occupied,” while the community’s grant predates the mining rights that became the subject of the dispute.
In 2010, GGMC issued a cease-work order against Vieira on the basis that he did not have an agreement with the Village Council. The matter eventually reached the CCJ, which ruled in 2017 that the GGMC mines officer did not have the authority under the Mining Regulations to issue the cease-work order for a breach of the Amerindian Act.
Miller recalled yesterday that following the 2017 ruling, GGMC officials came to the area to conduct sanitation-related activities and the miners moved out their engines and equipment.
The Village Council subsequently brought proceedings against Vieira and GGMC in 2021. The High Court dismissed the claim without a trial, ruling that the minerals beneath the lands were vested in the state and that Vieira did not require the village’s permission to access areas covered by his permits. The Village Council appealed.
Miller said the appeal remains before the Court of Appeal and that the community has repeatedly sought information on when the next hearing will be held. “We keep asking for a date when the next hearing is,” she said, adding that the community was sometimes informed of hearing dates only a day beforehand, making travel difficult for residents.
Mining ban and renewed operations
The Village Council said mining resumed in March and that residents were informed during the July National Toshaos Council Conference that the ban on mining in the area had been lifted.
The government had suspended mining in the area following the 2023 IACHR precautionary measures, saying the suspension was intended to protect residents while it addressed the Commission’s recommendations.
The council has also raised environmental and health concerns surrounding mining, while a letter by researcher Janette Bulkan referenced concerns about elevated mercury levels in Chinese Landing and questions over government interventions to protect residents.
For now, Miller said residents remain at the site, maintaining their watch over the equipment while awaiting action from the government.
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