A land rush by illegal operators, namely members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, has turned the once-tranquil Valencia/Toco area into a virtual war zone where legitimate quarry operators and farmers are now under siege, being run out of their lands by gun-toting men claiming to be Muslims.
By Camini Marajh"It is like the Wild Wild West out there," Roger Boynes, MP for the area and Sport and Youth Affairs Minister, said yesterday in a brief interview with the Sunday Express in response to questions about a Muslimeen grab for lucrative State-owned aggregate-producing lands in Valencia.
Boynes, who said he was "horrified" by what was going on, said the rogue operators were "raping my constituency" and instilling fear among residents and legitimate quarry operators.
"It is like a gold rush out there," a distressed-sounding Boynes reported, adding that "a lot of greed is taking place in there. We need to restore law and order in these areas. I think it is a case of pure greed and lawlessness".
Boynes said because of the uncontrolled operations being conducted in his constituency he had already held meetings with the line Ministers for Energy, National Security and Local Government on the matter and planned to push for a lawful resolution early this week.
He said residents have reported threats by men claiming to be Muslimeen.
A Sunday Express team, which visited the area Wednesday, found gaping holes across a wide region, spanning thousands of tonnes of pitrun left by indiscriminate and environmentally-hostile mining.
Boynes likened the pock-like holes left behind on the earth's floor from the improper quarrying to a Kiss cake with all the cream removed.
He said he was not aware that the illegal mining of State-owned quarries was a pay-back by his Government for Muslimeen help in the last general election, as reported in the Sunday Express last week.
"I don't know about that," he said.
The Sunday Express understands that the Muslimeen has taken control of no less than seven operations in the last two years, including one at Tattoo Trace, on which a defunct organisation called Dar ul Islam once held a one-year lease.
The agreement, said to be 34 years old, was used by the Muslimeen to springboard back into the area after the 2002 poll. Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr is named as a principal of the defunct organisation.
Energy Minister Eric Williams has refused to deal with the issue of the legality of the Muslimeen mining claim, insisting that Bakr, through Dar ul Islam, had a legitimate licence to mine the area.
He said "everybody knows that the quarry sector is in a mess", and added that he was doing his best to "clean up the mess".
Up to late yesterday, information requested more than a week ago from his office on the State's agreement with Bakr was not forthcoming.
Conservative estimates suggest that millions of dollars have illegally been mined, a lot of it made from sales to State agencies, including regional corporations and the Unemployment Relief Programme.
