As the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) move to staunch continually mounting claims of corrupt practices in the gold-mining sector, GGMC staff members can expect to come under closer official scrutiny with the establishment of a Special Inspectorate that will investigate allegations made against them.
Asserting that “allegations of corruption and malpractices, if true, can only be undertaken with the consent of both the officers of the commission and the miners,” Natural Resources and the Environment Minister Robert Persaud told Stabroek Business that “the ministry is aware of the alleged claims… and has investigated the complaints that were brought to the attention of the ministry and the GGMC.”
This newspaper has also raised the issue of corrupt dealings between miners and state-employed officials in the mining sector and all, without exception, have said that such practices are commonplace. When we put the minister’s response to this newspaper’s question on corrupt practices to one miner earlier this week he responded that there were no “ifs and buts about
