A mining and lease agreement was on Friday signed between Batavia Village Council, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and EKAA HRIM Earth Resource Management Incorporated, bringing new opportunities to residents.
The company will soon establish a quarry business, and engagements with the community have led to adherence to all duly-constituted procedures under the Amerindian Act.
One agreement was signed for leasing of the land, while another dealt with tributes – representing two sets of funds that will be paid to the village.
The lease covers 1089 acres of land to the company, with a mining pit of 13 acres. The remaining land will serve as a buffer zone.
Amerindian Affairs Minister Paul Sukhai, during the signing ceremony, stated, “They will get the market rate. They have agreed to that and incrementally, the buffer zone will have a different rental fee, but it will be increased over the 15 years.”
She regarded this development as “groundbreaking” for the village, which is located seven miles away from the Bartica township. Along with bringing income to the community, the Minister pointed out, that this venture will stimulate development for the residents.
“I am pleased that they are at the conclusion of all the negotiations, and the partnership which was formed way back in early last year has developed into a relationship that is now concluding with a full agreement for mining,” Sukhai stated.
She added, “We believe that the mining for quarry is important for our country. We depend on aggregates to move forward and to ensure the massive infrastructural projects undertaken by our Government.”
EKAA HRIM is part of a group of companies under Texila American University, focusing on mining, recruitment, oil and gas, and agriculture.
Director of the company, Jesvin Pradeep Kumar explained that some 40 persons from the village would gain employment to work at the Batavia operations.
“We have two categories in which they will work. It will be skilled and unskilled…We started the project in the middle of last year, so we had to do the prospecting with the support of the Ministry and the villages,” Kumar shared.
Toshao of Batavia, Oren Williams regarded this initiative as a way of changing lives in the community.
He expressed, “This is a very good opportunity for us to improve the lives of our residents in the village. We have seen this as a project that will change a lot of things and the lives of our people.”
