Mazaruni, Cuyuni rivers heavily polluted; govt deploys team to take “corrective measures”

The GHRA said the team observed that mining on this stretch of the Mazaruni river directly and on the banks of rivers inland to a distance of thirty metres, although illegal, continues to flourish. Experienced Amerindian boat-pilots who have traversed the river for decades, the organisation says, now have to seek the assistance of miners familiar with the river to navigate the shoals, submerged sandbanks and reefs created by tailings. “Incredibly, in the present dry season, a person can now wade across sections of the Upper Mazaruni river, something which will become commonplace if mining is allowed to continue unhindered. Indigenous communities living along the Mazaruni can no longer eat fish from the river, even without the deterrent of mercury poisoning.”
http://demerarawaves.com/2017/04/18/mazaruni-cuyuni-rivers-heavily-polluted-govt-deploys-team-to-take-corrective-measures/