Region Ten councillor Charles Sampson on Thursday told a parliamentary committee that the bauxite industry is not receiving the attention it should and he also queried the quality of the ore being shipped out of the country.
Sampson was speaking at a forum organised by the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources at the Constabulary Recreation Hall in Linden.
GINA said that the Chairman of the Committee, PPP/C Member of Parliament, Odinga Lumumba told the gathering that the meeting was to “get a sense of what’s happening” with the communities and the companies which operate in the sector.
GINA said that Sampson told the committee that bauxite is a valuable resource and it was not receiving the attention it should. He also queried the quality of bauxite being exported.
“I’m wondering if I can go to any government institution today, especially the Ministry of Natural Resources and find out from them what quality of bauxite is being taken out in every shipment of bauxite that leaves our shores,” Sampson queried.
The councillor added that there should be laboratories to analyse the quality of bauxite being exported from Guyana. “We must be able to verify,” Sampson asserted.
He also stated that he was very concerned about the treatment of workers who mined bauxite and that unions in particular should “step up” their representation of workers.
GINA said that Thursday’s forum with the councillors was held ahead of a scheduled meeting with Chinese bauxite company Bosai today. Lumumba said that the committee met with the Russian bauxite company Rusal last week in Kwakwani but that it had failed to reach out to residents in the area before that meeting. Lumumba said when the committee meets with Bosai, he hopes to fairly represent the concerns raised by residents.
Assurances were given that the issues raised at the meeting will be forwarded to Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman.
“We cannot tell the government what to do, we can advise the government or try to get a sense from the government where they are going…and get input from the community,” Lumumba said, according to GINA.
Meanwhile, Regional Councillor and Assistant National Director of the Community Development Council, Sandra Adams called for the relocation of the forestry office in the community.
“Where it is located definitely is a bad spot because when you have two or more trucks to be checked and to be inspected, it protrudes out on the road and it’s around a turn. So a driver coming from west to east, approaching the highway from in the township of McKenzie to see around that truck is impossible,” Adams said.
Adams disclosed that she had sought the intervention of the Guyana Police Force in the matter but was informed that it would have to be addressed by the Ministry of Natural Resources through the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Another Regional Councillor and resident of Kara Kara, Linden, Denise Belgrade voiced concern about the log-bearing trucks on the roadway.
“It’s very bothersome when we observe the way that area is being used by those big logging trucks that are loaded with logs. For me, the logs look kind of unsafe with the chains,” Belgrade said, according to GINA.
Municipal councillor Lennox Gasper suggested the opening of a gold board office in the bauxite community.
“What will eventually happen is that the miners will stop right here once they know that they can get their gold sold, and they can be able to buy their goods and take it back in. They will ease the extra mileage on their vehicles,” Gasper said.
Gasper contended that this will spark expansion within the business community. “Everything will change. I’m asking and petitioning if they can do that,” Gasper told the members of the committee.
The councillor also suggested that other government agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) be decentralised.
Lumumba told Gasper his suggestion was a “brilliant idea” and he would raise it with the Minister of Natural Resources.
Gasper also suggested using the non-operational alumina plant as a processing facility for either lumber or agriculture produce. However, Sampson said, “There is still the possibility of the re-establishment of an industrial zone in that area.”
