Chinese Landing Toshao and villagers come under violent attack from miners; Call on Government to urgently intervene

The Toshao of Chinese Landing in Region One and a number of villagers were reportedly violently attacked by a miner and his workers on Thursday night as they tried to prevent mining equipment from accessing their titled lands.

Chinese Landing has been in a decades-long battle to safeguard its indigenous lands from illegal mining. On Thursday night, gunshots reportedly rang out as a miner and his workers attacked the villagers during a stand off.

“He beat me up. He and one of his workmen fired 10 shots over residents’ head. And this is overbearing what miners are doing to residents,” Toshao Miller said in a live broadcast from Chinese Landing.

She explained that the issue started earlier in the day when the miner and his workers attempted to access Chinese Landing through Kariaku.

Miller said the miner and his workers were escorted to Tassawini Landing and the excavator was seized. However, as the villagers attempted to transport the seized excavator to the mission, they were attacked.

“Unfortunately, they reached up the boys that were bringing the machine through the road to reach the mission. They brackle the boys, beat up them boys, take away their phones and tried to carry away the excavator into Tassawini Landing Backdam,” Miller said.

Miller said she and two other residents intervened and were able to seize the excavator for a second time but they too came under attack shortly after.

“I get a trashing. As you can see uncle here, them man beat him up and black he out. Meh brother, they fired couple well shots over he head and he run away in the bush. I thought my brother dead. I keep hollering, hollering. Them man hold me down in the mud, took away my licensed gun, my phone, everything. They took away the village bike which was given to the village by the Ministry of Natural Resources, GGMC, and also one of the villager’s bike,” Miller recalled.

The Toshao is calling on the authorities to intervene as a matter of urgency. She said the villagers are tired of being bullied by miners.

“We are fed up getting bullied by these miners,” she said. In the background, at least one resident could be heard crying.

Miller said President Irfaan Ali must also intervene, adding that the resources deployed during election must be deployed now to visit the village, and to address this troubling issue.

In 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said the people of Chinese Landing were at risk of suffering irreparable harm to their human rights due to issues linked to illegal mining and the violation of the Amerindian Act. It then issued a series of precautionary measures forcing the Government to temporarily halt mining activities in the area.

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