The disclosure by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) that efforts will continue to enforce the mining regulations to reduce illegal mining is most welcome.
This has been a matter of grave concern in recent times, particularly against the backdrop of the fact that mining activities take place almost entirely in communities where our indigenous people are located.
In this regard, high-level teams from Guyana and Brazil have been meeting on illegal mining activities. Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Hon. Robert Persaud; Chairman of the Board of Directors of GGMC, Major General (rtd), Joseph Singh and other senior officers of the government recently met with a high-level delegation from the state of Roraima, Brazil, following the detention of scores of illegal Brazilian miners, and part of the recently launched ‘Operation El Dorado’ to combat widespread illegal mining.
The operation resulted in the detention of a total of 94 foreign miners breaching the mining, environment and/or immigration laws.
In most cases, these workers had no work-permits, no certificates of registration and in some cases even expired visas. In addition, 32 local miners have breached the mining regulations.
This is an alarming situation indeed and does not augur well for the progress of our mining industry. It must also be considered, that apart from those involved in illegal mining activities who have been caught, there may be many others who are still undetected.
Another worrisome revelation is that a large number of Brazilians were caught engaging in illegal mining activities. The presence of illegal Brazilian miners has been a source of concern for some time now, and it is a strongly held view that most of these illegal mining activities are also fronts for pursuing the illegal drug trade. Over time, an increasing number of persons have been nabbed with illegal drugs in the mining communities. We have also witnessed an increase in violent crimes in these communities, many of which seem to be linked to the illegal drugs business.
One aspect of this problem which the ministry and GGMC need to examine closely and place greater focus on is the possible collusion between mining officials and illegal miners, because in the past there were instances of such collusion.
In fact, to its credit, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association have spoken about this matter and their concern about unfair competition from illegal mining.
Indeed, this issue of illegal mining cannot be treated in a trivial manner because it would have serious, adverse, long-term socio-economic and environmental consequences. This is something which we could ill afford.
However, the reality is that the problem of illegal mining is affecting many countries, particularly those in the developing world.
Colombia’s national police chief, General Oscar Naranjo, stated that the biggest challenge facing his successor is illegal mining, an increasingly important source of funds for criminal groups.
Naranjo, who announced last week that he was stepping down, told the newspaper El Tiempo in an interview that fighting informal mining is by far more politically costly than going after kidnappers or destroying coca crops, because many gold miners can question why they are being persecuted when they are exploiting what is essentially a legal product.
Therefore, it is important that we guard against international collaboration among illegal miners. That is if it is not already happening, because that would make it much more difficult to curb, as is the case with the illegal drug trade.