Dear Editor,
Azruddin Mohamed claims he built his fortune mining gold in Guyana’s interior. But while the billions glitter, the questions about how he treated the land and the people he profited from cannot be ignored.
Mining in Guyana is no small thing—it reshapes landscapes, strips forests, pollutes waterways, and disrupts Indigenous lands. If Mohamed mined thousands of acres of pristine forest, where’s the evidence that he practiced good stewardship? Did he replant trees, restore scarred lands, or protect fragile ecosystems? Or did he simply extract, profit, and move on? The silence on these questions speaks loudly.
Then there’s the social environment. Indigenous peoples often pay the steepest price when mining moves in. Rivers turn murky, fish stocks vanish, traditional livelihoods collapse, and cultures are shaken. What was Mohamed’s response? Did he partner with these communities, invest in their futures, or ensure they were protected from the fallout? Or were they left to pick up the pieces while he counted his earnings?