In recent weeks local gold miners and particularly the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), the umbrella organization for small and medium-scale gold miners have been making clear their discomfort with the role of the recently established Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Last month the Association went to the trouble to move a vote of no confidence in Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud while an official told this newspaper that the miners were in a state of “mobilization” though no details were provided as to the reason for that condition. What can be gleaned from these developments is that the relationship between the miners and the ministry are – to put it mildly – strained.
From the outset the announcement that a new Ministry was being set up to administer the mining sector had set tongues wagging in the industry. Among miners there arose a sense of apprehension resulting from the view that the intention behind the creation of the new Ministry was in fact a thinly veiled attempt to wrest control of what has become an increasingly lucrative industry away from the semi autonomous Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and place that control in political hands. Some miners say that things have turned out pretty much the way they expected and that the noises which the Ministry has been making about river mining, and work permits and environmental controls were, in effect, red herrings that were being used to expose the inadequacies of the GGMC and justify direct ministerial control of the mining sector. It will be recalled that several weeks ago Minister Persaud chose a public forum at which to direct a tirade of tasteless and offensive comments at GGMC Commissioner Karen Livan and while the Minister’s excesses passed without even the slightest admonition from mining professionals or the President for that matter, a GGDMA official told this newspaper that the Minister’s public and – as it turned out – altogether unwarranted ‘dressing down’ of the Commissioner was intended to send a message regarding the shift in authority from the GGMC to the new ministry.
Mind you, if in fact the government was seeking a reason to miniaturize the GGMC its long-standing deficiency in the area of monitoring the excesses of rogue miners was as good an excuse as any. In fact, and with due regard to the concerns of the GGDMA the view has also been expressed that the real grouse among some of the miners has to do with their concern that the advent of the new Ministry will result in stricter enforcement of environmental laws. The Miners Association insists that its real concern has to do with the fact that the Minister and the new Ministry, apart from having – or at least so it would seem – taken control of the GGMC, has been making key industry decisions without consulting with the miners themselves. Moreover, several miners point out that the noises that are being made about efforts to stamp out corruption in the mining sector are huge red herrings since some of the systems that have to do with matters of inspection, monitoring and the acquisition of permits are themselves avenues for corruption.
While the GGDMA continues to insist that its members are prepared to work with the government for the realization of higher environmental standards in the mining sector, it knows only too well that it cannot speak for those mining outfits that couldn’t care less about the environment, concerned as they are with maximizing their own returns from the industry. In the circumstances the government would have every right to be concerned that effective mechanisms are put in place for monitoring environmental practices since, with the best will in the world, the industry cannot be left to regulate itself.
On the other hand there is the view being articulated by the GGDMA and by a number of miners to the effect that the new Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment is a contrivance that is intended to wrest real control of the lucrative gold-mining sector from the GGMC while leaving the Commission and its officials to wallow around in a condition of helplessness.
Gold, of course, continues to be a major player in the Guyana economy and the miners, through the GGDMA have chosen to flex their muscles by expressing a vote of no confidence in Minister Persaud. While these developments will point to the scale of the problem, they are unlikely to go away except both sides recognize what is at stake for an industry that has become increasingly important to the Guyana economy. Much of the problem appears to repose in a lack of trust in the political administration on the part of the miners and the sense we get regarding a sense of frustration among at least some senior officials of the GGMC tells us that the government might have decided – whatever the criticisms leveled at it by the miners – to push ahead with expanding the jurisdiction and authority of the ministry in the mining sector. For its part the GGDMA appears determined to push back against what it regards as the excesses of the ministry. It is a difficult situation for two reasons. First, the lucrative nature of the mining industry has significantly enhanced the influence of the miners, equipping them with a capacity to lock horns with the administration in a manner that no other sector is capable of. Secondly and equally importantly, control of the mining industry goes way beyond creating a new ministry and granting it power on paper. For a whole host of reasons both the government and the miners must surely be aware that an outright confrontation is clearly not in the interest of the mining sector or the economy as a whole.
