Vieira invokes CCJ ruling in standoff, demands equal enforcement of Guyana’s mining laws

(Kaieteur News) – Local miner, Wayne Vieira has issued a statement breaking his silence on the escalating dispute at Tassawini and Chinese Landing. The response follows an ongoing blockade where he says residents have physically obstructed four GGMC-registered excavators and a bulldozer brought in for mining operations and critical infrastructure work on local roads and the Tassawini airstrip from entering the area.

Vieira’s statement comes as the Chinese Landing Village Council formally declined an invitation to participate in a scheduled Georgetown mediation meeting with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and mediator Emily Dodson.

In an official letter dated 26th August, 2026, addressed to GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison, Toshao Nikita Miller confirmed that the council could not leave the village during ongoing protest actions. Expressing concern over procedural fairness, Toshao Miller stated, “a mediation cannot have a fair and successful outcome when there is a power imbalance between the parties or there is undue pressure placed on one of the parties”. The Toshao added that “the council members have determined that we cannot leave the village and our residents” while machinery continues to move toward their boundaries. The letter noted that after operators found Tassawini Landing blocked, “they brought their barges to Kariako to try to bring their equipment through on the road,” which the council characterised as not being “a show of good faith”. The council affirmed it will not attend mediation until “Mr. Vieira’s equipment is removed from our land and GGMC can guarantee that all of Mr. Vieira’s preparatory and mining activities at Tassawini are stopped”.