On September 16 at around 10.30 am, a security guard with Chinese-owned Guyana Manganese Inc (GMI) at Matthews Ridge in Region One hurriedly alerted those living in the area that a reservoir had collapsed. In the terrifying moments that followed, as torrents of water burst through the area gouging out 20 feet of the public road, some persons were forced to climb trees to escape the deluge.
One of the affected persons told Stabroek News: “It happened very suddenly. We had to think fast but we can swim so we held on to the trees to help us”. The persons who clung to trees were eventually rescued by GMI employees.
Thus far, there are no reports of any casualty from the collapse of this reservoir and it is still to be established what exactly was in it, however there is no mistaking that this incident could have had grave repercussions had it occurred later in GMI’s production cycle.
Up to the time of the writing of this editorial, three days after the collapse of the reservoir, there has not been a single word from the Government of Guyana, the minister with responsibility for the environment, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) or the Minister of Natural Resources. From the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) there was a paragraph on its Facebook page on the day of the collapse and drone footage of the breached reservoir.
The EPA stated as follows: “The EPA was earlier today (12:15h) notified of a breached reservoir (not tailings dam) known as Pakera Lake, at...
Read Full Story: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/09/20/opinion/editorial/breach-of-reservoir/
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