Dear Editor,
News that the criteria, methodology, and timelines for a mining lottery were finalised, was released last week and raises questions about the late action of the Ministry, headed by Minister Raphael Trotman, to help the mining sector.
This seems clearly like an effort to regain support. But what is clear is that this action will not undo the damage that has already been done. The mining sector has been hurt by the policies of the APNU+AFC government over the last three years. There was the issue about a final tax, where the law was changed, despite protests about the provisions of that law; then it was changed back in December 2018 and announced during the Budget 2019 presentation. There was also the matter of the key ministers refusing to meet with the miners on issues that were affecting them. The incident in Mahdia, where equipment was damaged in a conflict between the Ministry of Natural Resources and miners, is still fresh in the minds of many people, moreso since this could have been avoided if a different approach was taken. The general treatment of miners cannot be undone. And these are not the least of the concerns in the mining sector.
Now with the mining lottery, the Ministry of Natural Resources says the first one will be held in the Georgetown area on March 22nd, 2019. Two things have to be said here. One, why Georgetown and not a mining district? Two, after March 21, 2019, the three-month deadline for General and Regional Elections to be held in Guyana after the PPP/C’s no-confidence motion was successful, will be ended. So is this mining lottery a real thing or a ploy? Minister Raphael Trotman may not even be a minister then, nor will junior Minister Simona Broomes.
The APNU+AFC government needs to get serious about helping the mining sector. If the Guyanese people cannot trust the government to do what the Constitution, says, how can we trust that they are sincere about this new initiative for the mining sector?
Really, how?
I mean, in all seriousness, the date for the mining lottery to start was announced as March 22, 2019 when all of Guyana knows what will happen on March 21, 2019 if there is no General or Regional Elections. The Guyanese people are not dull.
Yours faithfully,
Attiya Baksh
