Mining and environmental protection officials will soon visit the Konawaruk River to check on its state and an assessment is needed to determine whether the river is supporting aquatic life, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud has said.
The minister acknowledged that the Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) river has been degraded by mining activities and said that action can be taken to help the river recover. “With proper management of tailings by miners, constant monitoring and enforcement by GGMC [Guyana Geology and Mines Commission] and EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], the river can recuperate. If required as a last resort, targeted/direct environmental restoration has been done in many other places, including restoration of rivers and biodiversity. If the situation warrants it, we are sure it can be done here as well,” the minister said.
Stabroek News reported earlier this month that the Konawaruk River is still heavily silted more than a decade after attention was first drawn to the degraded state of the waterway. It had previously been branded a “dead” river – incapable of supporting aquatic life but this has drawn varying views. “It would be difficult to say that without carrying out a
