Guyana yesterday pledged to cooperate with foreign investigations into a gold smuggling ring, in the wake of the United States asking Curacao to look into years of smuggling and reports of a dossier on illicit shipments from Guyana for the last 15 years.
“Guyana welcomes any information and collaboration on the matter of suspected gold smuggling and non-declaration which are criminal offences under our laws,” said Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud yesterday.
However, despite Persaud’s pledge, one local miners’ group yesterday said that it had not been invited to assist in the local efforts to address smuggling.
“Our agencies, namely the GGMC [Geology and Mines Commission] and the Guyana Gold Board, are willing to provide any information and assistance to the competent authorities once formal requests are sent via the appropriate channels,” he added.
The January 25, 2013 edition of the Curacao Chronicle quoted a January 21, 2013 letter from Washington to Cura-cao in which the US asked authorities on the island to investigate gold smuggling cases between Curacao and the United States.
The report said that it appeared that these cases have been going on for 15 years now. The Curacao Chronicle said that one of the questions asked by the US is why the Curacao authorities are only probing the theft of the gold from a Guyanese boat in November 2012 and not the role of custom officials in the case, which the US says it “finds very questionable in gold smuggling cases between Guyana and Curacao.”
The Curacao Chronicle said that the US is of the opinion that the local authorities are conducting a “selective” investigation. It added that Washington says that there seems to be no leadership coming from the Curacao Public Prosecutor’s office and even on some pivotal issues the authorities have failed. The Curacao Chronicle report said the US also suggested that documents have been forged.
Washington’s request could lead to further embarrassing revelations following the stunning US$11.5 million theft of gold on Curacao from a Guyanese fishing boat in November last year. The gold is believed to have come from Guyana but local authorities say they have not been able to verify this. Moreover, local authorities have not established contact with the Guyanese crew of the boat, who would have been able to give chapter and verse on the shipment.
‘Not tackling it’
Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) Presi-dent Simona Broomes yesterday said smuggling remains an issue but it is not being tackled.
Despite her organisation’s reach across the country and the fact that its membership may be able to provide vital information, Broomes said it has been ignored in efforts to address the situation. “There was this big heist and suspected smuggling, the GGDMA and others were asked their input by the Ministry of Natural Resources but not once has anyone asked us about this… They had their big meetings to discuss it and all and we were never invited,” Broomes told Stabroek News.
She was upset that the GWMO, with over 400 members spread across Guyana’s mining districts, has not been given a voice to speak out on major issues, such as smuggling, whenever government holds mining forums. She feels that it is just being used and maligned “for higher politics and good media image.
“There is smuggling of gold and it remains an issue but we are not tackling it. However, it is not the small and medium-scale miners that are smuggling it is the big traders with licences to buy and sell at whatever price they want,” she went on to point out.
Broomes recalled that when she sat on the Special Land Use Committee (SLUC), set up during the tenure of former president Bharrat Jagdeo, the issue of traders being able to buy and sell gold at whatever prices they chose was raised as she felt it would pose a problem and pave the way for smuggling.
“…Such a mechanism in place, apart from evidence, will only bring speculation. Because if you are free to buy and sell at whatever you choose, what good is there of a standard? Why have something with standard and [others can do as they choose?” she questioned.
“It was even brought up at that meeting that proper recording of the gold these traders buy isn’t even there” she added.
Broomes felt that these traders could be involved in smuggling, since they have the capacity given the large amount of the precious metal they purchase on a daily basis. “Me, who washing my lil thing and making an ounce or another man with two or three can’t smuggle ’cause we ain’t get to smuggle. If our organisation was well respected, in the recent case, at least, we would have met with the minister to say ‘this is the report we got, this is the speculation, this is what we have…’,” she said.
