GGDMA, APA issue separate calls following violence among Chinese Landing residents, Kariako miners

Last Updated on Friday, 13 November 2026, 21:50 by Written By Denis Chabrol

The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) on Friday accused the Toshao of Chinese Landing and others of attacking legal miners at Kariako village and stealing their equipment, but the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) lashed back, vowing “unwavering solidarity” with Chinese Landing residents to safeguard Indigenous Peoples and their ancestral lands.

Both associations have since issued separate calls to address Thursday’s violence and addressing the issue of land rights and the right to mining.

In apparent response to Chinese Landing Toshao Nikita Miller on Thursday showing how she was badly assaulted and muddied and an elderly man was wounded during the violent exchange, the GGDMA said its workers were injured. The miners association also released pictures and a video of a Kariako miner, who is working with Wayne Vieria, bleeding from a severe chop wound. He was flown to the city by an Air Services Limited helicopter for treatment. 

“The attackers are known to be(allegedly)  involved in illegal mining and are using the leadership of the nearby community to cover their operations while pretending to be victims,” the GGDMA said. The association made no mention of the alleged theft of Ms Miller’s licensed firearm during Thursday’s confrontation, but accused her of pointing the gun at them while seizing the excavator. 

The GGDMA said that Miller, who was armed, allegedly pointed the gun at the operator and demanded that he turn the excavator around and return to the Barama River, while her brother, armed with a cutlass, hit the excavator several times with the weapon. The miners’ association said fearing for his life, the operator complied. “Later the attacker (allegedly) pointed the firearm, threatened to chop the operator and demanded the keys of the excavator, they then stole the excavator and an ATV and took it to the nearby village of Chinese landing,” the miners  body said. Later when Eon Perry, the excavator operator and another male travelled to Chinese Landing Village to retrieve the machines, the GGDMA said alleged that they were again threatened with the firearm and then were brutally chopped. “The attackers then attempted to murder other persons connected with the mining camp,” the association said.

The GGDMA called on the Guyana Police force to arrest those who are allegedly sheltering under the leadership of Chinese Landing as they continue to prevent legitimate miners from operation in favour of their own suspected illegal operations, while dramatising to the public a falsehood of victimisation.

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) stands in unwavering solidarity with the people of Chinese  Landing Village, Region One, and unequivocally condemns the brutal and reprehensible attacks on Toshao  Nikita Miller and residents of the community, perpetrated by miners. These acts of aggression and violence are outrageous and unacceptable, and represent a direct assault on the safety, dignity, and fundamental  rights of our Indigenous Peoples. 

The APA said the attack on the Toshao should be condemned by all, and the APA called on Minister  of Amerindian Affairs, Sarah Browne-Shadeek, to lead the charge. That association also wants the minister to lead a team comprising the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Natural Resources,  the Guyana Police Force, and other relevant parties to Chinese Landing to listen to the residents and  provide permanent solutions to their violations.  

“The people  of Chinese Landing should never have been made to be in the position of having to physically defend their  own titled lands while the State appears to condone the action of the miner. The community has been  raising concerns over mining activity, intimidation, environmental destruction and threats for years,” the association said. 

The APA called on the government to stop hiding behind the veil of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling on  the Chinese Landing issue. The  association reminded the government that the matter decided by the CCJ concerned the  Guyana Geology and Mines Commission’s power to enforce a cease-work order under the Amerindian Act.  

Additionally, the APA called on the National Toshaos Council (NTC) to do more than issue vague statements and  translate those words into action. “The NTC must visit Chinese Landing and show its solidarity. The NTC  parades itself as “the only legitimate representative body of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana” and now is time for it to represent. The people of Chinese Landing and Indigenous Peoples across this country  deserve the representation the NTC so publicly boasts about.” 

However, the GGDMA said the police should immediately arrest and investigate those implicated for attempted murder and robbery on the mining operators of Wayne Vieira in the Kariako village area by elements connected to illegal miners supported by the leadership of Chinese landing. 

While the GGDMA said the Guyana Police Force has confirmed the incident involved armed threats and the forcible removal of an excavator and the subsequent wounding of a mining company employee, no statement on the alleged incidents have been issued to the media.