Columnist Ralph Ramkarran has defended the award of the mining survey permission in the south east of Guyana to Muri Brasil Ventures Inc.
The award in November 2012 has come under serious scrutiny as it had not been announced before a Stabroek News report on it and it pertains to possible mining in a part of the country that had previously not been allocated for such. Further, Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud did not declare it to the Natural Resources Committee of Parliament which he met in November.
Writing in the last Sunday Stabroek, Ramkarran disclosed that Muri Brasil Ventures Inc and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission were both clients of the legal firm Cameron and Shepherd of which he is a partner and that the views he was expressing were his own.
Arguing that the government had not learnt from its public relations fiasco with the Amaila Falls Project, Ramkarran contended that most of the questions surrounding Muri Brasil have now been answered but three serious issues remain. He listed these as national security, the environment and exploration. “Whatever happens to this particular venture – and the extensive hostility generated to it and unfairly to the Minister does not bode well for its future – these issues will remain”, he asserted.
He said it cannot be argued that secrecy prevailed in relation to the government’s overall intention or to the Permission for Geophysical and Geological Survey (PGGS). He posited that expressions of interest in exploration in the area were publicly invited and the PGGS proposed to be granted to Muri was then advertised in the Official Gazette.
He added that if not the public then the mining community would have been aware of it. Critics have said that these avenues of publicity are not broad enough for the general public to be kept abreast. Further, even though expressions of interest were invited there was never a public statement that Muri Brasil Ventures had been accorded a PGSS.
Ramkarran further posited that “Stabroek News itself which took the lead in highlighting the story, published Dr Ashni Singh’s remarks in his (2012) Budget speech in which he alerted the nation that the government’s policy is to encourage mining in “southern Guyana.” It has to be assumed that if there were national security concerns, the government would have addressed them before the Minister of Finance made such a policy declaration”.
He questioned what were the security issues that could possibly impinge on the deal? “No one is willing to say. There have been hints that during the 1970s after the government expelled a contingent of Surinamese troops from the New River Triangle, the Guyana and Suriname governments agreed that Guyana would not station troops in the area. No one has ever produced anything in writing to substantiate this. But even if there was such an unwritten understanding, an exploration permit does not violate it. Should Guyana abandon the riches of its territory because someone else claims it? In fact, is the claim not a reason to occupy it? Should Guyana allow the New River Triangle (to) go the way of the Essequibo in terms of investment up to a few years ago?”, Ramkarran queried.
On the question of the environment, Ramkarran said the ministry subscribes to various regimes and there is a plan to phase out the use of mercury. Additional restrictions, he said, have been imposed as a result of the Low Carbon Development Strategy.
He pointed out that there is an Environmental Act in place which requires an Environmental Impact Assessment Study to be done for every act that impacts on the environment. Further, he said, miners are required to provide an environmental bond to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) which is to be used to restore the environment in the event that they falter. “Now despite all of this, no one can argue that everything is fine, that harm does not take place, such as in the waterways, that mistakes are not made or that improvements are not required. The answer is to further strengthen the regime, not to stop mining. After decades of mining and forestry activity without any environmental laws or protection, Guyana still has over ninety per cent of its forests intact. With the environmental protection regime now in place, albeit with a substantially higher degree of mining and forestry activity, there should be little concern that our forests are at risk, although continuing vigilance is necessary”, Ramkarran forwarded
The Senior Counsel, who resigned last year from the PPP after nearly 50 years, said that capital for exploration is scarce and that in most countries this is facilitated by private capital.
“It is a tough sell on the international market to raise such capital, especially for countries like Guyana with many risk factors. Petroleum exploration is at a standstill for this reason. Exploration capital is vital as new mineral deposits must be continually found to replace those being depleted. If this does not happen the mining industry will decline”, he said.
Ramkarran, a former long-serving Speaker of the National Assembly, lamented that Guyana largely remains a commodity producer and that projects such as the Marriott Hotel and the new airport which can boost tourism are under attack.
He further asserted that manufacturing has been “killed” with the collapse of the Amaila Falls hydropower project.
“Every investment proposal, like Muri, is being savaged. If Guyana does not persist with mining, little is left”, he argued.
