The negative response by the mining sector to elements of the Guyana/Norway agreement, which commits Guyana to more sustainable mining activities, has been deemed regrettable by the administration.

This was expressed yesterday by Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) Dr. Roger Luncheon, at his weekly post-Cabinet press conference at the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.

“In the more recent publications, the mining sector has responded negatively to the elements of the Guyana/Norwegian agreement which commits Guyana to more sustainable mining activities,” he stated.

Dr Luncheon observed that the mining response has been deemed regrettable as “it points to a seeming unwillingness of the sector to face and to address reality”.

“It should be noted that long before the promulgation of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), concerns were being aired, raised, and actually addressed about the impact of mining on the environment,” he reminded.

He noted that in his previous contribution on this matter, he had identified a number of initiatives undertaken by Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) that became fundamentally part and parcel of the commitments in the LCDS and the Guyana/Norwegian agreement Norway’ which secures US$250M over the next five years to support Guyana’s climate change model.

“Therefore, it was clear in the evolution of mining practices within the sector that considerations were actively being pursued for new approaches, and this was before the LCDS,” he stressed.

He went on, “The interest is to have a balanced, sustainable exploitation of our natural resources, be it mining, be it forestry – balanced and sustainable practices.”

“Indeed, the sentiment in the administration is that the mining sector is too big to fail, and the view consequently is that the negative reaction of the sector is counterproductive as it discourages the development of the necessary new mindset that would bring into existence sustainable mining activity in Guyana,” he concluded.

Alluding to questions about miners claim that the move by the Government will reduce the output, he said, “We, in the negotiations with the Norwegians, have sought to establish respect for historical levels of activity in exploitation of our natural resources, and there was never during these discourses and in our commitments any explicit undertaking to restrict activities in either the mining sector or the forestry sector, in pursuit of ill-defined goals and objectives.”

“In essence, our commitment that historical levels would be respected, and our commitment for the sector to contribute to its role in the development of the Guyanese economy was not trivialised. It was pronounced on and it was definitively defended in that agreement,” he insisted.

He reiterated the Government sought to introduce concrete interventions that pointed to sustainable mining activities, “Interventions that I must repeat antedated the LCDS, interventions that were generated by concerns about the impact of mining on the environment, and that is what eventually has flowed into the LCDS and has become part and parcel of our commitments under the Guyana/Norwegian agreement”.

Asked about the Brazilian mining and some law enforcements officers encouraging illegalities, and what kind of monitoring mechanism is in place to regulate the borders, he noted the contribution of the Brazilian entrepreneurs in mining cannot be dismissed lightly.

“I think we have to concede that their arrival led to the application of new technologies in the mining sector, and we suspect, contrary to the anecdotal comments made, that it also had an impact on declaration of gold and, perhaps, even in earlier years, on diamond production in Guyana,” Dr Luncheon said.

“But we are not unmindful that their arrival might not be controlled, not be administered to the best of the abilities of the GGMC, and in accordance with the rules and regulations governing immigration, work permits and such like,” he underlined.

“And the answer to that is not to decry their presence and initiate a xenophobic reaction to the Brazilians. Their efforts to integrate in the border locations and even in Georgetown are notable,” he stressed.

“We have to spend much more time and provide much more resources in regulating, in implementing, in executing those existing arrangements and policies that govern their presence and their operations,” he stated.

He said in the policy statement that flowed from the adoption of the LCDS and the heightened role of monitoring and reporting and verification, both the Forestry Commission and the GGMC have identified increased mobilisation, more staff, more wardens, extra offices, and more regional and in the field presence, to really give effect to what has been undertaken by the Government in the Guyana/Norway agreement.
And that is what we have to focus on,” he told reporters.