Adhere to mining rules, regulations or else
– says ‘there is no short cut’
CHAIRMAN of Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Major General (ret’d) Joe Singh has appealed to the Brazilian community here to adhere to rules and regulations set out in the mining sector. His appeal, issued at an interactive session with Brazilians, is among the continuing efforts to tackle illegal mining locally.
He was speaking at a Wednesday forum, organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, at Celina Restaurant, Carifesta Avenue, along the Georgetown seawall, to discuss the mining sector and related matters.
Singh said GGMC has the responsibility, through the Commissioner of the Geology and Mines Commission, for ensuring that all the rules, regulations and laws governing mining are adhere to, observed and obeyed.
He said GGMC also has a regulatory function in six mining districts in Guyana and, within those, there are mines officers, environmental officers, engineers and technicians, whose roles are to ensure “that everything that happens within those mining districts conform with the Act and with the law and with the regulations.”
In addition to that, Singh said persons who are non-nationals are expected to go through certain procedures before they can work within the mining districts.
“Today, we are communicating with you, so that you are aware of the fact that you have to ensure that the person or the company sponsoring you is ensuring that they follow the rules and regulations or else you will find yourselves in problems,” he warned.
Singh advised them: “If you decide to bypass or to take your own action, then you will, most likely, face the same kind of issues that occurred between the 10th and 15th of last month (when) there was an operation in the interior, particularly in the Puruni – Chinese Creek and Tiger Creek – where a number of persons were found to be working illegally without work permits, without certificates of registration, without any kind of authority to be where they were.”
He added: “We are aware that many persons who are coming into Guyana to work in the mining districts would like to get there as quickly as possible and start working. But, in any country, whether it is Brazil or Venezuela or Suriname or French Guiana or Guyana, there are rules and regulations that have to be applied.”

RESPONSIBILITY
Singh admonished them to make sure that they observe the rules and regulations and noted that the sponsoring agencies or individuals are the people who have that responsibility.
“I know that, within the past months or perhaps years, people have been trying to short circuit to avoid having delays in Georgetown while waiting, whether it is on a work permit or a certificate of registration. There is no short cut,” he declared.
The GGMC Chairman said the agency is trying to see how the processes can be speeded up but reiterated that “there is no short cut.”
“Nationally and internationally, including countries like Brazil, there is a great urgency in ensuring that we take control of our resources, that we ensure that these resources are used for the benefit of people whether it is to deal with poverty issues or to generate wealth, to create jobs and to use that money to finance other enterprises and, therefore, there has to be a level of accountability for those resources. We have to manage them so that they are used for the purposes intended,” he maintained.
Singh said the authorities have to ensure that, in the extractive industries, in particular, things are done in a responsible way and there is respect for the environment and the people living downstream from the operations.
“We have to respect the fact that, in addition to human beings, there is biodiversity, animals, plants etc. which also are important for human life and, therefore, it is not just about digging holes in the ground and extracting minerals.
It is ensuring that there is accountability, there are production records, there are records which say who is working where and with whom that person is working, because there is an occupational health and safety aspect,” he explained.

CONTROL PARAMETERS
According to him:“In our case and, more importantly, we have international agreements which require us to ensure that the level of deforestation of our forest is kept within certain control parameters or we cannot exceed deforestation annually more than a certain percent and, therefore, when you take all of these things into account, human welfare, biodiversity, environment, accountability and ensuring that future generations don’t blame us, you can understand why it is that regulations have to be adhere to.”
Alluding also to security concerns, he said that Guyana has a very long frontier with Brazil and also with Venezuela and Suriname.
“We have to ensure that, within the borders of Guyana, things are done in accordance with our Constitution and done in accordance with our laws and our regulations,” he stated.
Singh said they want to make sure that the mining districts and even outside of them are not being used for purposes other than what is intended, such as trafficking in persons, prostitution, child labour, drugs and illegal weapons.
“While we are happy to have persons who are here working faithfully and honestly in partnership with Guyanese, at the same time, we are asking you who are interested in working in our mining districts, to ensure that the persons who are sponsoring you or the companies that are sponsoring you are doing the right thing or else they will be exposing you to hardships,” he reiterated.
“So you have a vested interest in ensuring that, before you go anywhere near to those mining districts, you have a work permit and you have a certificate of registration,” he cautioned.