-says recent meeting was disrupted by ‘itinerant’ group

CITING a “burden” placed by new taxation and financial reporting measures, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) says it is open to fruitful discussions with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ministry of Finance. According to a release issued by the mining body, a meeting was held on Monday with Finance Minister, Winston Jordan. However, the forum was not as fruitful as the body had expected it to be.
The GGDMA said that the meeting was “unexpectedly joined” by a group of “itinerant” miners accompanied by Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes.
“We regret to inform our members that the proposed agenda was derailed and nothing of consequence was achieved, because of the intrusion by these new groups,” the body said.
The GGDMA noted that the core issues of taxation and regulatory difficulties for miners could not be fully discussed.
“We instead were railroaded by this surprise addition to our meeting. This new group does not have legitimate miners’ interests at heart,” the body said.
As such, the mining body said that it has not agreed to any new position with the Ministry of Finance or the GRA. It noted that it will continue to work in good faith and partnership with the two government agencies, while a meeting is planned with the miners.
At Monday’s meeting, the GGDMA was accompanied by the Guyana Women Miners Organisation. It called on all miners, including small, medium and large-scale miners, marrak-men and pork-knockers among others, “to let your voices be heard and let the Government of Guyana understand that we will not be divided.”
The release said that the Ministry of Finance and the GRA have agreed that miners need to better understand the issues and as a result, the GRA will attend a meeting, to be scheduled, to answer questions and clarify issues for miners.
Miners are asked to be on the lookout for a GGDMA meeting to be held shortly.