Prime Minister Samuel Hinds is defending the controversial six months prior notice proposal that has miners and loggers up in arms, saying it would give miners and forest lease holders with operations in a relative area enough time to sort themselves out before beginning operations.
Hinds, who holds responsibility for the mining sector, was speaking during an interview aired last evening on NCN, where he sought to address issues relating to the mining sector, in particular the controversial six-month proposal as well as plans to give the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) veto power as regards the commencement of mining operations within those areas that fall within its purview. Hinds stated that the administration’s plans to reform the sector were conceived prior to the launching of the government’s Low Carbon Develop-ment Strategy (LCDS). He said the authorities had made several moves to reform the sector, including the phasing out of the use of mercury within mining operations. On this note, Hinds alluded to a conference hosted by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) last August, where an alternative to the mercury method was examined.
Hinds stated that the six months proposal, which has been met with stiff opposition from the sector, is one of several reform measures. While stating that the small and medium scale miners are being “challenged to operate at a higher level,” he noted that the government has no intention to “shut-down” the mining sector.
Explaining the rationale behind the proposal, the Prime Minister stated that it is meant to give the loggers and miners time to realise their respective positions before carrying out operations within a relevant area. He explained that within the six-month period, the forest lease holder would be able to cut down trees of use to his operations, following which miners would carry out their activities.
Asked for his opinion on the way forward as it relates to the ongoing issue, Hinds referred to a committee which has been set up to address the reformation of the sector.
He said that the committee, which is chaired by Public Works Minister and former GGMC Commissioner Robeson Benn, and includes members of relevant agencies, has been meeting to look at “views” which can be put into effect.
During the interview, the Prime Minister criticised some sections of the media on their reporting of the situation, and in particular he stated that Stabroek News has “shifted” its position as regards issues relating to the sector .While singling out this newspaper, the Prime minister stated that Stabroek News had been reporting on issues relating to environmental damage caused by persons within the industry, recounting reports carried by this newspaper last year following visits to mining areas at Arau in Region Seven. He called on the Stabroek News to “operate at a higher service, be part of the solution” and not to “exacerbate the current issues”.
Stabroek News’ Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud last evening rejected the contention of Prime Minister Hinds that the newspaper had changed its position on the environmental damage caused by mining, in the wake of the ‘six months notice’ controversy. Persaud said as recent as January 11, 2010, Stabroek News restated its position in an editorial entitled ‘Six months notice’, which the PM might have missed because he was out of the country.
The editorial said in part: “Ironically, had the government been progressively applying stringent clean mining measures from 1992 onwards it would have been in a much better position today to advance its low carbon initiative.
For many years Stabroek News has been at the forefront of lamenting the serious environmental damage being caused to rivers and streams by both local miners and their counterparts from across the Takutu and by all scales of operations: small, medium and large scale. It should not be forgotten that the worst environmental damage caused to the environment was at the hands of Omai Gold Mines Limited which was shockingly let off by the government in relation to the penalties that should have been applied and its obligations to affected communities. Worse, of all mining companies, Omai should have been the one to put every last dollar of its commitment into a reclamation plan to restore the scarred landscape.
Instead, the government allowed it to walk away on the flimsy grounds that there might be further prospects for mining in the area – a most injudicious decision. It was vital that Omai of all operators set the best example for reclaiming mined out areas. Further, the odds that there are other rich mineral deposits nearby must be low.
“It was this same laxity that led to the pollution of the Konawaruk River to such an extent that it could no longer sustain the diversity of life it was accustomed to. Last year residents of Arau near to the Venezuelan border complained bitterly about the atrocious environment violations by miners. Yet none of these major problems and the dangerous pollution by the wanton use of mercury galvanized the government – that is until recently.
“Now the government is trying to play catch up by introducing draconian measures and flooding the interior with mines officers when for many years the complaints by residents of transgressions went unheeded.
The same attitude has been evident in the forestry sector.
The government did not stringently enforce many of the rules governing forestry and ensure that companies like Barama Company Limited complied with their commitments to value added forestry instead of concentrating on log exports. It is only latterly that the government has cracked down on holders of TSAs and other forests and at a time when the industry was under serious threat.”
