— Luncheon stresses
MINING practices in Guyana have to be changed to reduce the adverse effects on the environment, the government stressed yesterday as miners gear for a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo next week. Some miners have organised street demonstrations and other protest actions against the government’s proposed mining reform package; but Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, said the changes are inevitable. Referring to the controversy which saw organised street demonstrations in Bartica on Monday, he yesterday said the administration’s position is that “there really is no question about the inevitability of change.”
He noted that changes in the sector have been taking place and mining has evolved from its rundown state in 1992, when the current government took office, to its current status as a major sector in the economy.
“Those evolutionary developments have all been about change and adaptation”, the top government spokesman said.
Luncheon said the impact of mining on the environment has been “historically adversely commented on in the public domain” and the current proposals are intended to heighten Guyana’s resolve to deal with and to improve that situation.
He told a press conference that the committee of stakeholders appointed by President Bharrat Jagdeo is winding up its work and is expected to submit its recommendations on the way forward. This will be followed by a meeting between miners and Mr. Jagdeo scheduled for Thursday.
Some 2,000 people participated in a march around Bartica and organisers have launched other protest actions against the proposals in other mining communities and through advertisements in newspapers.
Luncheon flatly dismissed claims by the small opposition Alliance For Change (AFC) party that miners had not been consulted on the proposed changes in mining practices.
He said the AFC’s statements fit in with its “other extreme ridiculous assertions” geared to keep the party in the public limelight.
This, he argued, was a reasonable assumption when the AFC’s allegations fly in the face of reality, known facts and common sense.
Luncheon last week declared that the government was “unashamedly proud” of what it has done since it assumed office in October 1992 to elevate the sector as a major plank in the economy and said it is too big an industry to be threatened or challenged.
Small miners “are literally being used as shock troopers by hidden interests to defend their particular interests and beliefs”, he said, adding that the government was committed to the growth and development of the mining sector.
“…what we intend to introduce is not a threat to the sector and we will continue to be open to discussions and consultations to that effect”, he assured.
“We will continue to negotiate…consult…exert the efforts needed to correct impressions that are being created falsely among (small miners)”, he said.
Luncheon noted that President Jagdeo and the administration have stated that the mining industry is too big to be threatened or challenged.
“…we have not undertaken anything that jeopardizes this industry where it is and its future growth. (The proposal) has to be taken in the context of what this administration has done over the years to get this industry to where it is”, he said.
President Jagdeo at a press conference last week again dispelled rumours that the government was moving to close the industry.
He noted that at the launch of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) in June last year, he had made it clear that “mining will continue in Guyana, and the government has no interest, whatsoever, in closing the mining sector.”
However, he reminded, “I made it clear at that time that there would have to be changes — changes that had already been discussed with the sector long before the LCDS was developed and launched.”
“Even before the LCDS was launched, we were sending teams out to learn from other countries how, after the mining is completed, they restore the landscape so that you don’t leave gaping wounds in our forests,” he further explained.
The President said the proposed changes, including the phasing out of the use of mercury, are in line with international practices and would help to ensure that mining remains as an activity for hundreds of years to come.
“I am making it clear that we are moving forward. We can work in collaboration with the mining sector, and the serious people in the sector; but if they think that by funding small protest action they are going to detour us from this track – they are wrong,” he declared.
“…the rumours that the government wants to shut down mining are just that – rumours; but there would have to be some changes – changes that would allow us to maintain our forest and earn more, but would allow the miners to still make a decent, healthy, profitable living”, he said.