UNDOUBTEDLY, the mining industry is among the largest and lucrative industries and has contributed tremendously to economic and commercial development, but it is one of those industries which has created significant damage and degradation to the environment.
During its infancy, no one really looked seriously at the environmental damage that was being caused by mining. As a result, the damage to the environment has accumulated over the decades.
Today, it is widely recognised and acknowledged and has been universally accepted that there is a need for balancing the benefits of mining with that of preventing damage and harm to the environment.
In this regard, laws and regulations governing mining activities have been developed to safeguard the environment and the health of people throughout the world as there have been many mining disasters which have devastated and polluted land and water resources resulting in severe hardship of the people living in those communities.
In our country, most of our mining activities take place in the hinterland regions where most of our indigenous people live and they depend on rivers and creeks for water for domestic consumption as most of these communities do not have potable water supply and a source of food and livelihood.
It is therefore vital and imperative that everything is done to ensure that these rivers and creeks are protected from pollution.
Chemicals like mercury, cyanide, sulfuric acid, arsenic and methyl mercury are used in various stages of mining. Most of the chemicals are released into nearby water bodies, and are responsible for water pollution.
In spite of tailings (pipes) being used to dispose these chemicals into the water bodies, possibilities of leakage are always there.
When the leaked chemicals slowly percolate through the layers of the earth, they reach the groundwater and pollute it. Surface run-off of just soil and rock debris, although non-toxic, can be harmful for vegetation of the surrounding areas.
But pollution of these water resources is not limited to the effects on domestic consumption as release of toxic chemicals into the water is obviously harmful for the flora and fauna of the water bodies.
Besides the pollution, mining processes require water from nearby water sources. For example, water is used to wash impurities from coal. The result is that the water content of the river or lake from which water is being used gets reduced. Organisms in these water bodies do not have enough water for their survival.
Against this backdrop of ensuring safe river mining practices, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has placed a one month hold on applications to ensure that miners comply with the safety regulations.
This however, has apparently angered some miners and they have reacted in a negative manner.
Nevertheless, these miners ought to be aware that while they have a right to mine they also need to have a responsibility towards protecting the environment from pollution and damage.
In any case it is not that the GGMC has banned river mining. It is just that they want to ensure the safety and health of people and prevention of damage to the environment.
So the miners need to behave in a more responsible manner and not blow things out of proportion and misrepresent the reality of the situation.
Even the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), which usually does not support actions by the government, has come out in support and issued a statement welcoming the announcement of the cessation of processing applications for river mining by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission (GGMC).
The GHRA said it “commends both agencies for their courage in facing the hostilities such a decision would predictably generate from factions within the industry”.
It said the response to this decision reveals the scale of the odds facing even the most basic initiatives to enhance environmental protection in an industry which, according to press reports, loses a minimum of US$240 million per annum in illegal gold exports.
So the miners should really become realistic and responsible because no one is trying to take bread from their mouths. They need to look at the wider picture and not only at their self interests.
Or does this reaction have motives other than mining interests which may linked to the political agenda of some?