THE Ministry Of Natural Resources on Wednesday commissioned its Crop of Wardens Station, “Black Caiman,” in the Dagg Point community, Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). The facility has the capacity to host 16 wardens at any particular time.
The Corps of Wardens, the brainchild of His Excellency President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana David A Granger, is an Environmental and Conservation Law Enforcement unit under the Ministry of Natural resources, which was established to enhance the nation’s monitoring and compliance capacity within the Guyana National Resources sector.

Minister of natural resources, Raphael Trotman, spoke at the commissioning, of “Black Caiman,” the first of three warden stations to be established, saying, “As a ministry, we recognise and are committed to ensuring that the sector is well managed in keeping with laws, and His Excellency President David Granger’s vision, because we love and respect what we have been given and we want to ensure that all Guyanese benefit from our forestry resources.

“However, we must ensure that as we harvest those resources that there is efficiency [and] safety and that this is done with care and respect to the environment and to the people who are engaged in and connected to the environment. And this can be achieved, this will be our victory, that the corps can ensure fully that the natural patrimony is preserved and protected.”

Each of the wardens has had extensive training by the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Forestry Commission, The Guyana Wildlife Management and Conservation Commission, as well as the Protected Areas Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and several other regulatory bodies.

The members of the corps were trained on how to spot unsafe mining practices, as well as corrective strategies that can be taken against these actions. The training the members of the corps have received enables them to not only function as the other regulatory bodies, but also gives them the legal capacity to function as law-enforcement officials in the sector. Some of the things the body will be looking into are: unsafe and illegal mining practices; crimes in the forestry sector; illegal exploitation and sale of gold and minerals and other crimes of similar nature.

The wardens are authorised to execute action enabled by the Police Act, Chapter 16.01, such as effecting arrests; additionally, they are permitted to bear arms. According to Trotman, while the wardens will be able to bear arms, President Granger calls on them to exercise caution in situations that they will encounter during their operations.

Chief Warden (actg), Trevor Blehman, said that the commissioning of the first corps of warden stations at Bartica is a big step towards the corps being able to achieve its primary objective. He explained that Bartica is portal to get into many of the mining areas, and that having a centre set up there would prove to be beneficial as it relates to accessibility and response time.

Further, he said that the ministry of natural resources has ensured that the corps has the necessary resources to carry out its functions in the varying mining areas. He said that the corps currently possesses several means of transport by land and sea, inclusive of 4×4 pickups, All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), motorcycles, and boats.

He further said that he believes the corps would not serve as just another regulatory body, but that it would change and shape the way the mining sector works. It can achieve this by creating a somewhat more stable structure for law enforcement directly in the sector that would be beneficial not only to miners and owners of mining operations, but also to the country as a whole.