Dear Editor,
I am now confortable to write on the issuance of the Permission of a Geological and Geophysical Survey (PGGS) to Muri Brasil Ventures Inc, following several revelations by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and information provided by stakeholders within the gold mining sector.
As a medium-scale progressive miner, this matter has been of special interest to me, just as to many other concerned Guyanese, particularly miners. At first, I thought that APNU and the media, particularly Stabroek News had a very good case as it related to the information that the APNU member and newspaper churned out.
However, despite the big hullabaloo by APNU and Stabroek News, the facts provided by the ministry, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the private sector, miners, Muri Brasil Ventures Inc and other stakeholders involved, decimated the sinister plan to implicate the Minister and the GGMC in any wrongdoing or secret deal with the mining company as was implied. Despite the revelations that exposed APNU and Stabroek News, there have been no apologies or retractions for the disrepute and aspersions brought upon the Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, the GGMC and the mining sector as a whole. This is a flagrant disregard for basic journalistic and professional ethics on the part of Stabroek News and APNU’s Joseph Harmon, respectively. The recent episodes of sensational and scandalous writing and comments occur too often without any validation and as such those culpable should be sanctioned by the relevant authorities, or otherwise the same trend is bound to continue.
Stabroek News and APNU have been exposed for their unwarranted attacks on miners; the sector has taken note of these continuous attacks over the past few weeks and the facts and clarifications which adequately dispelled the misinformation.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Fraser
Editor’s note
In accordance with our policy we are carrying this letter because it contains a criticism of Stabroek News; however, we have been unable to verify the identity of the signatory.
