THE Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) must do more to fight corruption in the sector, Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, said on Thursday. In an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Minister Broomes said while miners have registered noticeable improvements in the way mines officers communicate with them on the ground, little progress has been made to address the inefficiencies and loopholes within the sector that continue to foster acts of corruption.
“In terms of monitoring, a lot needs to be done there, I am not going to sit and pretend all is well but…I am seeing positive signs,” the minister said.
She noted too that the issues surrounding the Land Management Division within the GGMC were inherited, but should not be allowed to continue. Citing one example, Minister Broomes explained that the Natural Resources Ministry is still receiving reports that while some concessionaires, particularly the smaller miners, are mandated to seek the minister’s approval after failing to make their payments on time for their properties, other concessionaires with larger and even more blocks are allowed to update their payments more than a year after the due dates would have passed without having to return for the minister’s approval.
“You are using the regulation to tell one set of miners that this is what you got to do and to another set, you do not apply the regulation; it is unacceptable,” the Minister within the Natural Resources Ministry said.

“It is sad to know that this is how it is,” she added.
Upset about the situation, Minister Broomes said in the past, there was a transparent and strategic system in place in which all concessionaires were equally informed before a cancellation took place.
Turning her attention to management of the commission, Minister Broomes said it is “regrettable” that although millions of dollars were approved to have the sector critically analyse from the ground level the “sweep” has not taken place. It was explained that shortly after taking office in January, 2016, a recommendation was made to have “a sweep” of all the mining districts within the sector. This Minister Broomes further explained would have allowed the Government to have a better understanding of the systems that exist, in addition to the challenges and loopholes with the sector from a ground level.
“We would have been out there not to hunt down people, but to educate people about the regulations, see the kind of services that we provide to the general public, the kind of conditions that the officers are experiencing out there, so when it comes to budgeting we know exactly what is happening,” Minister Broomes explained.
According to her, the sector cannot be managed from Brickdam in the capital city where the head office is located, it has to be managed on the basis of facts garnered from the mining districts.
“You cannot manage the sector from Brickdam, Brickdam is not the sector, it is important that you go into the fields.
“I am talking here about managing based on facts. For example, in Puruni, you will know how many mining properties there are, how many dredges there are, the amount of gold coming out of a particular block, how many dredges are registered and why are we facing a problem with so many unlicensed dredges,” Minister Broomes added.
The sweeping exercise should not be done once a year, but twice, according to the minister, with the involvement of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Social Protection Ministry and other key stakeholders.
“I am sad that a year has passed and the sweep hasn’t taken place although the money was approved. I think that this is one of the saddest things, that the year has concluded and when we had the funding and everything for it, that did not happen, that is regrettable.”
In 2017, the Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources is hoping that the commission from the level of management would execute the many recommendations made.