The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has described the decision to rescind permits for river bank mining as “harsh and unreasonable.”
A week after the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) announced the rescinding of the permits, the GGDMA yesterday broke its silence and criticised what it described as a the lack of specifics for the decision, which was taken without consultation.
“The only way that the GGDMA can fathom that such a move is a sensible and justifiable one is if all the operations previously given permission were scrutinised and were all found to be in violation of the mining permission. Otherwise the ‘Peter pays for Paul and Paul pays for all’ approach is very worrying and irregular,” the GGDMA said in a statement issued yesterday.
It added that miners who are mining within the limits of the agreements should not be penalised for the actions of those who are in breach of the agreements.
It further said that while it understands the GGMC’s desire to enforce the mining permissions/agreements and to have compliance in the sector, this process should be done via “a genuine private and public partnership,” where there is consultation and education before action. “Transitioning the way the industry works and the manner in which miners operate cannot be done overnight, but it is a process that will take some time. If there is no genuine partnership, an unnecessary burden is placed on all the operators in the industry. It is only natural that this will result in a growing distrust as operators continue to live in a state of fear and worry with the pressure of not knowing what will happen next and what input they have in serious decisions affecting their living. As the lobbying body of the mining industry for over 30 years, the GGDMA stands ready to take the necessary action to protect the livelihoods of all legitimate Guyanese and other miners who have invested time, money and energy in the sector,” it added in the statement, in which it accuses the government of abandoning a long standing tradition of consultation with the industry and resorting instead to an authoritarianism.
A notice in the April 16, 2016 edition of the Stabroek News said that Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman had issued policy directives and as such protocols in relation to the application for, consideration and granting of permission were being reviewed.
Consequently, it said that “all ‘permissions’ previously granted to breach river banks (buffer zones) for access to claims or mining permits or for prospecting, mining and quarrying operations are rescinded with immediate effect until further notice.”
The notice pointed out that mining river banks is against the law and that any breach of the river banks for access to claims or for prospecting or mining and quarrying require specific permission from the GGMC. That process is now on hold.
Reports have continued to come in about wanton destruction of river banks in mining areas. The GGMC has been accused of not taking determined action to prevent this.
Welcomed
In contrast to the GGDMA, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) yesterday welcomed the ban, while noting that pollution of headwaters of many rivers coming off the Guyana Shield by mining activity will destroy the asset unless adequate regulation is seriously enforced. “Moreover, enforcement of the real costs of land and river reclamation is urgently needed, and failure to face up to this reality is another form of climate denial,” it said in a statement.
It added that both indigenous and coastal environmental advocates looking for more aggressive rights-related protection of Guyana’s fresh water sources will welcome this signal that the Government of Guyana is conscious of its global responsibilities for the 30% of the world’s fresh water generated from the Amazon Basin.
River mining has been a controversial issue for decades here. In July, 2012 the GGMC had stopped river claims pointing out that it had been overwhelmed by reports from stakeholders of damage to the environment from irresponsible mining.
However, this sparked an uproar in the mining community and then Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud and the GGMC were later to say that there had only been a suspension of the practice for a review of the situation based on reports of severe pollution by miners. It was thought that significant pressure was brought to bear on the government at the time by the mining community to reverse the decision.
The GHRA statement said that the fact that the recent announcement was followed by TV notices drawing the attention of miners to the ban suggests a stronger determination to implementation than was the case with a similar ban in 2012.
