Chairman of the Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources Dr Rupert Roopnaraine says he will be seeking to convene a meeting early in January to deal with the issue of the Permission for Geological and Geophysical Survey (PGGS) issued to Muri Brasil Ventures Inc and the answers Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud provided at an earlier meeting when quizzed.
And the APNU is seeking guidance on whether the minister could be made to appear before the Committee of Privileges for what the party termed being “economical with the truth” after he failed to disclose that his ministry had approved the PGGS for mineral exploration that could eventually lead to mining in the ecologically sensitive New River Triangle. He also failed to provide clear answers to the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) which issued a statement saying that it had been misled by the ministry.
Muri Brasil Ventures Inc said in a statement last week that its mining of rare earth elements in the New River Triangle will lead to “unimaginable benefits” to the country. It also justified a troubling clause in the PGGS which guaranteed that the company will be granted up to 18 prospecting licences. It said that such a guarantee was necessary since the
