Govt. intends to expand the mining industry
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday made it emphatically clear that the Government’s intention is to expand the mining industry and not to shut it down.
And while he noted that he is in favour of mining activities being conducted anywhere in Guyana, where minerals can be found, he also made it clear that such activities must be done in a practical manner.
To this end, the President has mandated that a special committee established to look into mining issues with a view to having the sector regulated be expanded to include representation from small miners in areas such as Mahdia and Bartica.
He had also proposed to meet with a representative grouping from the miners in another three months.
The mining community is claiming to have a grouse with a number of the recommendations proposed by the Special Land Use Committee which was set up by the President himself, in particular one dealing with a notice requirement which did not go down well with the operators in the mining community.
The meeting yesterday, hosted by the President at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, on the East Coast of Demerara, at which large and small scale miners, porknockers, loggers and others with interest in the mining sector turned out, was to clear up misconceptions.
It was a sea of yellow with almost all of miners and related parties wearing yellow tops, with a great number of them wearing tee-shirts emblazoned with the slogan,`Please don’t stop mining in Guyana’.
This caused President Jagdeo to question what misconception could have led to such a slogan, even after he had previously clearly stated that the Government had no intention to shut down the industry.
Alluding at times to earlier remarks by Prime Minister Sam Hinds, who has direct responsibility for mining, and Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn, President Jagdeo told the miners changes in the mining sector are inevitable.
This, he noted, is necessary if the focus is to shift from day to day operation to one of long term, to include expansion.
According to the President, discussions have been ongoing for about two years to find a balance between miners and foresters, to find a balance in their mode of operation, reiterating that the aim is not to stop mining but to ensure there is a sustainable balance.
And while the Government is aware that there are always challenges in gold mining, it also has to take into consideration the effect of mining.
These issues have to resolved before the much-talked about Low Carbon Development Strategy comes into being.
The new regulations are needed in the mining sector if the Government is to meet its end of an agreement with Norway that calls for sustainable mining as one of the measures to save forests in exchange for US$250 over the next five years.
The Norway agreement fits into Guyana’s preparation of a Low Carbon Development Strategy.
Touching on the contentious recommendation which calls for persons with an intention to embark on mining operations on or after October 1 this year,  to furnish six months’ notice, along with the location of equipment to be used, the President assured the meeting that there will be further discussions on this.
Other issues raised included the repossession of land and claims, documentation of all workers in the mining industry, including foreigners, the deplorable state of the Ekereku airstrip, revising of the lottery system for the allocation of claims, loans to assist small miners with the development of roads in the backdam, re-vegetation, review of seized equipment from miners, alleged harassment by wardens, and the proposed discontinuing of the use of mercury.