Noting the ease with which Region Nine’s first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) entered several communities in the South Rupununi area, members of the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) are calling on the government to halt all mining practices in order to prevent the deadly disease from making its way into those communities.

“The South Rupununi District Council, the representative institution of the 21 communities in the South Rupununi, expresses grave concern over the undermining of Village Councils’ efforts to keep the deadly COVID-19 out of our villages, particularly by the continuous influx of miners into our villages en route to the Wakadanao and Marudi gold mines and also business people from Georgetown.

We find this to be disrespectful and a violation of our right to safeguard the wellbeing and health of our people.

We are very concerned that persons coming in can bring undetected cases of the coronavirus into the mining areas which can then spread into our villages,” the council said in a press release issued yesterday.