Guyana developing National Action Plan for ASGM sector

THE Government will not replace, nor will it neglect the country’s mining sector, Raphael Trotman, Minister of Natural Resources has assured.

Delivering remarks at the opening of a two-day National Inception Workshop and Training on the Development of a National Action Plan for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Guyana, Minister Trotman stated that for as many years gone by, Guyana’s artisanal small and medium-scale gold mining sector had aided in the country’s development in a significant way and continues to do so.

Thus, indicating that the government has no intention of replacing mining in Guyana.” “In Guyana, the artisanal small and medium-scale gold mining sector is significant to the national economy. The ASGM sector accounted for 6.1 per-cent of Guyana’s GDP last year,” Minister Trotman revealed.

According to the Natural Resources Minister, in 2019, the government also generated 33 per-cent of the foreign exchange earned from gold production. It was also the main source of employment and revenue for hinterland communities including Indigenous ones. “(The ASGM Sector) provides direct employment for over eighteen (18) thousand persons and indirectly thirty (30) thousand persons,” he revealed. However, with that being said, the sector also uses mercury in the process of gold production and this needed to be curbed, Minister Trotman noted. “Mercury, its use and effect has become a buzz topic and is high on the national agenda of the Government of Guyana. We can, therefore, neither postpone nor avoid this discussion and the action that must be taken.” Min. Trotman declared.

Adding that “The Government of Guyana remains committed to implementing practical, effective and efficient measures for the reduction and elimination, where feasible, of the use of mercury in the ASGM sector and materialization of His Excellency’s 2027 vision and commitment.”

Minister Trotman said as his ministry promotes responsible mining initiative and the country’s green living strategy, it has adhered to the August 2019 deadline of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the management of the importation of mercury into Guyana, now further steps must be taken to curb and eventually stop the use of mercury in Guyana. This, he says, must be done with as little effect as possible to mining operations.  “Journey to a mercury-free Guyana.” Min. Trotman.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. Following Tuesday’s workshop, which outlined the National Action Plan to stakeholders, the team will travel across the country educating Guyanese miners and Indigenous communities on the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and on Guyana’s own plan to stop the use of mercury. (DPI)