SECTIONS of the mining community have been at loggerheads with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) as it relates to the Commission’s undertaking to restructure the mining industry and to enforce mining regulations that seek to ensure mining is practiced in a profitable but yet environmentally safe manner. To this end, senior officials of the Commission, including Chairman Joe Singh, Commissioner Karen Livan and Deputy Commissioner (Technical Issues) Kampta Persaud, in a television programme ‘Current Issues and Analysis’ aired on TVG, sought to clarify some of the misconceptions causing discord between the commission and the industry stakeholders.
Topics that were dealt with included some stakeholders’ view that the Commission is too restrictive and is bent on “bullying miners”, rationale for the temporary hold on river licences as well as miners’ criticisms against the commission for its perceived sloth in issuing land licences.

GGMC regulates, not restricts
One of the most defining complaints of recent levied against the Commission by the stakeholders, following its move to reform the industry, is that of the view that the Commission is seeking to restrict the miners and control the industry.
The Commission’s Chairman, Mr. Singh, however, disagreed with this misconception about the agency and explained that the agency is not controlling but, rather regulatory.
Singh said what others see as controlling is only the Commission, “ensuring that the mining sector functions in a way that is in conformity with the act and with the regulations, that govern the sector.”
The Chairman said the Commission extends beyond regulating and encapsulates integrating the sector with the other sector stakeholders in the country and doing it in such a way so as to not infringe on the rights and laws of any group.
“It’s a national interest aspect…there’s an organisational responsibility and in order to carry out those functions there has to be knowledge, sharing of information, working very closely with other stakeholders such as the Gold and Diamond Miners’ Associations, hinterland communities many of whom are contiguous or integral to areas where mineral properties are and, therefore, they have to be consulted,” Singh said.
He added that the job of the Commission is “not working in isolation” and therefore, whatever decisions are being made have to be based on a national interest position, “even if this may seem to at times restrict mining that would have in the same instance impacted negatively on the regulations of another stakeholder sector”.

GGMC not into bullying
Commissioner Livan, in reiterating the role of GGMC as a regulator and facilitator, said the Commission has “never bullied, now or ever,” any miners.
Livan said the role of the Commission is “to promote and guide mining and also to promote mining regulations. It also provides technical assistance to miners.
She said the Commission cannot promote and bully at the same time on the basis that, to promote on one hand and, to be bullying on the other hand, would be very contradictory.
“Our role is to promote and facilitate as well as regulate; we have a number of rules and none of them is bullying,” she stressed.

River mining licenses
Deputy Commissioner (Technical Issues) Mr. Kampta Persaud said the temporary hold on mining on new locations which has been met with much displeasure from some miners was to allow for the Commission to process the influx of licences already in the system but, not before assessing the impact the processing of these will have on the environment.
Persaud said the Commission already has 4,200 river mining locations, which translate to 4,200 miles of river mining, with each river claim being one mile long.
He added that the ministry has set up a committee that will review the current actions of the river dredging operations to see their effects on the environment and the river channels.
The committee is to shortly commence meeting to determine the way forward for new applications.

Slow licence processing
Meanwhile, Livan has rebutted miners’ claims that the Commission has not been processing in a timely manner the issuance of land for mining.
She opined that some miners’ lack of education about mining and of the process flow charts that allow for specific time between approval and issuance of licences and permit are responsible for the view that the paper work is not being speedily processed.
Livan said that whilst this is part fault of GGMC, it is also the responsibility of the miner as a business person to ensure that he or she is educated on the basics of the business being embarked upon.
“Processing of all applications will take time, especially for new entrants or persons who may not have work grounds,” Livan cautioned.
She explained that licencing goes through a “process flow charts and there is an expected time when the processes would be completed.”
Meanwhile, GGMC’s Chairman called on the miners to respect the checks and balances that government has in place for issuing of licences and, to work within the laws and the regulations of the sector whilst the licences are being processed. (GINA)