3.1 Important information and where to find it
A lot of information will be needed for our community to fully understand the project that is planned. Some details
may be shared with us by the project proponent; other information we will need to find ourselves. We can do so
by:
•
Visiting government or company offices to get copies of all information about the project. There is no
“freedom of information” law in Guyana, and some officials will try to say no. But because Indigenous
Peoples have the right to FPIC, the information we need should be made available to us. We will probably
have to pay for photocopying;
•
Asking questions of the project proponent, government or other groups that are involved. We should not be
afraid to say we need more information or something explained
in a more clear way;
•
Searching the Internet for more information. If we don’t have
Internet access in our community, we can ask members of our
community to take the time to search for information when
they are in Georgetown. We can also involve our young people
who are in school in the city — they are our future leaders!
If we feel we need training, we should ask for it. The Internet
is one of the most important ways to learn about large-scale
mining, the low carbon development strategy and other
major projects. Appendix 1 at the back of this guide lists some
websites that we can check for information;
Did you know?
The Lokono people in West
Suriname were able to insist on
getting a communications centre
before they would consider
negotiating with a company that
wanted to build a bauxite mine on
their territory. At first the company
said no, but the communities
pushed until a senior company
official from Australia admitted
it was standard practice in that
country. The centre really helped
the affected community! If it can be
done in other countries we need to
insist that it be done in Guyana!
•
Getting in touch with other communities who have been
affected by a similar project or by the same company;
•
Working with experts and allies to help us find and understand
the information we need. There are many NGOs that specialise
in watching the activities of certain mining companies, and
these can be a very valuable source of information and support
for our community;
•
Collecting information from our own territory and people. It is true that much of the information around a
proposed mining project, for example, will be highly technical, but the people in our communities are also
important sources of information. For example, the fishermen can tell us if the water is being polluted or
muddied, and the hunters can tell us about impacts on wildlife. These are the groups that may not often
come to community meetings, so we have to make sure they are included even if it means going out on the
land to hear what they have to say.
The following chart lists: 1) Some types of information we will need to know; 2) Questions that need to be
answered; 3) Why those questions are important; and 4) Where to find information. It should be read from left to
right.
Not all of this information will be available from the start of the project. For example, we cannot know the full
impacts a project could have until the environmental and social impact assessment is done properly and with the
participation of our community! Many more questions will come up depending on the type and stage of the project.
For more specific questions at different stages, we should make sure to read the toolkits on environmental and social
impact assessments and negotiating impact benefit agreements.
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Free, Prior and Informed Consent