President Bharrat Jagdeo says that petitions are routinely made to him and the one that led to the granting of a mining licence to his presidential advisor Odinga Lumumba was a “reinstatement” which benefited from the advice of Prime Minister Sam Hinds.
Critics have said that there was no role for President Jagdeo in this matter under the Mining and GGMC acts and moreover the transaction with Lumumba was unethical and a conflict of interest. The President did not describe under which part of the law mining petitions to him are catered for.
At a press conference yesterday when he was asked about this, President Jagdeo stated that the awarding of a prospecting licence to Lumumba of Mariwa Mining Company, a local company which is pursuing a deal with Canadian mining exploration company Shoreham Resources Inc, was a reinstatement of a licence which was originally granted to him in 1991.
Stabroek News has been reporting on the ongoing deal which Lumumba of Mc Neal Enterprises and former commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Dr Grantley Walrond of Roraima Mining Company (RMC), are pursuing with Shoreham. Under the deal, Mariwa will be in a position to benefit to the tune of US$1M.
Lumumba and Walrond in a letter in response to an article which appeared in the January 4th issue of the Stabroek News, headlined ‘Lumumba Mining deal raises questions’, stated that they had petitioned the President for a prospecting licence to mine for gold and other valuable minerals on the 10,880-acre Sardine Hill property granted to them under a newly incorporated company called ‘Mariwa Mining Company’. According to the letter, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, the president granted the petition and thereafter Mariwa applied and was successful in having a prospecting licence for the property in question awarded to them.
Speaking at a press conference at the Office of the President (OP) yesterday, President Jagdeo in response to a question on whether the decision by him to grant the licence was usurping the responsibility of the GGMC and whether Lumumba’s role in the deal posed a conflict of interest, noted that he was not in a position to grant a prospecting licence.
He said Walrond and Lumumba approached him via a petition, claiming they were “disadvantaged” after the property was taken back from them by the GGMC several years ago. He said that it was a routine petition, stressing that what is “conveniently forgotten” is that the prospecting licence was granted to Lumumba since 1991, “that point seems to be missed”, he stated. He added that persons routinely petition him on various issues.
According to the President, the recent issuance of the prospecting licence to Lumumba and Walrond and ultimately Mariwa Mining Company was a “reinstatement”, one which was dealt with by the office of the Prime Minister. He said that he was informed by Prime Minister Hinds – the minister with responsibility for mining – of the history of the matter, adding that it was the GGMC which reinstituted the licence, “I did not direct GGMC on this matter”, he noted adding that he never spoke with GGMC commissioner William Woolford on the issue.
Stabroek News reported that when a mineral property is reclaimed by the GGMC it becomes the property of the commission and sources within the industry have stated that when a property is reclaimed by the GGMC after the commission would have exhausted all options available to the licensee, it becomes a situation where the licensee no longer hold rights to a property. Lumumba and Walrond held rights to the Sardine Hill Property since 1991 but during this period it was reclaimed by the GGMC for failure to meet rental payments.
Lumumba’s role in the deal has been questioned, those in the industry noting that his position within OP as well as his being a member of the Cabinet sub-committee on natural resources pose a direct conflict of interest. The Head of State noted that Lumumba’s position within the mining deal bears resemblance to a similar issue which occurred several years ago in which Lumumba had ownership of some 16 acres of land in Berbice. Some 7 acres of the said land was reclaimed by the authorities, the President noted, “because he was a member of Cabinet”.
Some within the industry have questioned the number of times the GGMC has granted prospecting licences to RMC for the property in question, since according to them the mining regulations state that a licensee is expected to carry out works on a property being prospected within a required time, being a period of three years after a licence is granted, following which, the miner can make a request for an extension of 1 year in advance of the three-year deadline if he/she foresees that the requirement date cannot be met. After a five-year period, the licensee cannot apply for another extension unless a special order is granted by the authorities.
According to the Mining Act, under ‘Application for renewal of prospecting licence’, a person who holds a prospecting licence may apply, in accordance with the Mining Regulations, for the renewal of the licence, but such application shall be made not more than twice.
Stabroek News also reported that prior to an injunction which was granted by the courts in 2007 to Walrond and Lumumba when the property in question was reclaimed by the GGMC and sold by auction to Afro Alphonso and Chunilall Baboolall for $80M, RMC had paid some US$20,000 to the mines commission.
The President’s role in granting a petition to one of his paid advisers has been placed under the microscope, with activist Janette Bulkan, in a letter appearing in the columns of this newspaper two week ago, questioning by what authority the President granted a petition for a prospecting licence “to one of his paid advisers on empowerment in his own Office of the President?”, a reference to Lumumba’s position in the deal and his post at OP.
A clause within the agreement between Shoreham and Mariwa where the former is expected to pay to Mariwa a sum of US$250,000 for exploration data and work programmes of previous work carried out on the property when this information remains the property of the GGMC has also been questioned. Such information becomes available to those interested in the property, in this case Shoreham Resources.
Shoreham Resources announced late last month that its is pursuing a letter of intent (LOI) which would ultimately see the company acquiring 100% interest rights in the Mariwa Mining company which had applied and had its application for a prospecting licence in the Sardine Hill property in the Essequibo approved by the authorities here. The licence was approved by the GGMC on December 28 last.