COMPREHENSIVE economic valuations of the environmental costs and benefits   of development projects  are needed so that technically defensible positions can be presented for economic development in all areas of Guyana.

Managing Director at Ground Structures Engineering Consultants, Mr. Charles Ceres, issued the challenge to stakeholders in the natural resources sector.
In this regard, he cited the recent issue of mining in the New River Triangle as an example of both the dilemma and the  challenge to be addressed by them in the quest to  balance economic development and environmental stewardship.
The occasion was a recent  environmental stakeholders workshop held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
He said that  with respect to the New River Triangle issue for example, the primary reasons advanced by those critical of the proposed action were security and biodiversity preservation.
He said that with respect to security at the moment  anything can occur in the area since there is no  significant monitoring capability there.
The concerns with respect to biodiversity though , he added, were  related specifically to environmental preservation as opposed to environmental sustainability associated with economic development, a big difference in perspectives.
He said that as a result an important concept which was never factored into the discussions was the environmental costs and benefits as opposed to the economic costs and benefits of mining in the triangle.
He said that a typical element of the environmental cost would be willingness to pay for a jaguar or other biodiversity resource in the area to ensure no mining in the area.
A typical environmental benefit would be savings to people who can afford better health care and enhanced education opportunities for their children based on income generated from mining in the New River Triangle.
He asked: “Is it correct to stymie economic development because of the absence of awareness of the usefulness of environmental stewardship through  the responsible use and protection of the environment by conservation and sustainable practices?”
The environmental sustainability of these operations may be questionable only if they can have significant health implications and health costs for individuals in the proximity.
However on the other side of the coin,  he added that he had personally encountered naturally occurring suspended sediment levels in the gold mining sector which are in excess of those mandated by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
He said that these standards   required some miners  to expend resources to attain end-of-pipe discharge limits which are in fact less than natural occurrences and which in no way enhances the water quality of the receiving waters.
He said: “We need to ask ourselves if we are placing an onerous burden on small and medium scale miners to attain discharge limits below natural levels.”
He said that  standards  set by environmental stewards should  not result in significant expenditure for mere  marginal increases in human health levels.

TECHNICALLY DEFENSIBLE
He stressed that  the regulatory and sectoral agencies of the MNRE are challenged to develop technically defensible positions for all mandated environmental standards.
“This is best done if the environmental stewards develop environmental standards  resulting  in economic development while at the same time ensuring the outcomes mandated by environmental stewardship.”
He said that inadequacies in regulations and standards  in this day and age of technological pollution can result in significant economic burdens if resources have to be expended to mitigate unintended  environmental damage.

(By Clifford Stanley)