PEOPLE in a democratic society have a right to peaceful protest when they feel they are wronged. It is an acceptable form of seeking redress in modern democratic societies.

But we feel the street protests planned for next week in Bartica by some interests in the mining sector are misguided and it is hard to counter the argument yesterday by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, that they seem to be using small miners for their own ends.

People tend to have short memories and those agitating for confrontation with the government over changes in the sector will do well to remember the state it was in when the current administration came to office in October, 1992.

They also have to appreciate that the mineral resources they mine are not exclusively theirs and are part of the national patrimony and that mining has to fit into overall national development.

President Bharrat Jagdeo and others in the administration have made it clear that there is no intention to close down mining and they have stressed that changes being implemented are in keeping with international best practices and were in train long before the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) was launched last June.

It is insidious for instigators in the industry to be peddling the false line that small miners are being shut out because of the LCDS and the government’s climate change agreement with Norway.

Dr. Luncheon stated yesterday that the government was “unashamedly proud” of what it has done since it assumed office to elevate the sector as a major plank in the economy and rightly noted that it is too big an industry to be threatened or challenged.

The recourse to street protests is more than baffling in the face of the clear assurances from the highest levels of government and some may be forgiven for thinking that there may be a hidden agenda somewhere.

It cannot be business as usual for those who want to cling to the old, destructive ways in the industry without a care for the environment and dialogue is the accepted way to seeking clarification on hazy issues.

Dr. Luncheon yesterday said the government was determined to correct the false impressions being created and we welcome his assurances that the administration remains open to discussions and consultations.

Small miners “are literally being used as shock troopers by hidden interests to defend their particular interests and beliefs”, he said, adding that the government was committed to the growth and development of the mining sector.

“We will continue to negotiate…consult…exert the efforts needed to correct impressions that are being created falsely among (small miners)”, he said. 

He argued that because of the distortions being peddled, small operators in the sector lose sight of the big picture.

In the end, it is the bigger picture that matters and those who claim to represent the true interests of all miners will do well to pursue negotiations with the authorities instead of going down a course fraught with pitfalls.