Residents of Chinese Landing-Tassawini again confronted persons attempting to move fuel into the community last Sunday night, with Toshao Nikita Miller saying residents managed to prevent a large caterpillar truck and excavator from proceeding into the backdam with the commodity.
Miller told Kiskadee Watch yesterday that residents were alerted that a truck was coming into the area after the community had banned the transportation of fuel and other supplies connected to the mining operation.
She said residents intercepted the vehicles and blocked the road after a “big caterpillar truck and excavator” attempted to take fuel into the backdam. The miners attempted to move the obstacles that residents had placed in the middle of the roadway, but they were unsuccessful.
She said the operators subsequently attempted to access the area through a creek, but were again unable to do so. “They gone back in the backdam empty,” Miller said, explaining that the operators eventually turned back after realizing they could not get through.
Residents also felled trees across the route, she said. “When they saw that, they know they can’t try anything anymore,” she said.
Miller noted that persons involved were believed to be agents of miner Wayne Vieira but said the Village Council was unable to establish their identities because they did not provide identification when asked.
The latest confrontation is part of a weeks-long standoff between Chinese Landing residents and operators seeking to move heavy mining equipment into the Tassawini backdam.
Residents have maintained a continuous watch over access routes after at least nine excavators, two bulldozers and several dredge engines were transported into the area by barge in August. The Village Council said at the time that the equipment was brought into the community without its notification or permission.
Some of the equipment was subsequently pulled back, but residents remained on alert as concerns of alternative routes used to move machinery into the community’s titled lands surfaced.
Miller had previously declined to attend an emergency meeting with Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat because she said she could not leave the community while residents were maintaining round-the-clock watch over the equipment.
The dispute centres on mining blocks held by Vieira within or associated with Chinese Landing’s titled lands. The community has maintained that mining activities and access through its lands require its consent, while Vieira has argued that his pre-existing mining rights allow him to access the areas covered by his permits.
The Caribbean Court of Justice in 2017 ruled in a case involving a 2010 cease-work order issued against Vieira that the GGMC mines officer did not have the statutory authority under the Mining Regulations to issue the order on the basis of a breach of the Amerindian Act. The Village Council subsequently filed proceedings against Vieira and the GGMC in 2021, and the High Court dismissed the claim without a trial. The Council appealed and has said the matter remains before the Court of Appeal.
The government had also suspended mining in the area following precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2023. Chinese Landing residents said mining resumed in March 2026 and that they were informed during the July National Toshaos Council Conference that the suspension had been lifted.
The Guyana Human Rights Association had previously raised concern about the movement of heavy vehicles and mining equipment onto Chinese Landing’s lands, while the South Rupununi District Council has called for government intervention to prevent further escalation and ensure residents’ safety.
Meanwhile, Miller said the continued standoff is taking a toll on residents, particularly now that children have returned to school. “We are getting tired. Now school has reopened and we have to send our children to school,” she said, adding, “We are not hearing anything from the government. No one is intervening to show their support towards the village that they stand with us.”
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