This is the position laid out by President Bharrat Jagdeo to miners at a much-anticipated meeting at the International Convention Centre yesterday. The arrangement was arrived at following the deliberations of a Special Land Use Committee (SLUC) set up by Jagdeo and following widespread opposition to the government’s proposal that miners would
have to give six months notice before mining can commence. Initially, the administration’s position was that “Every miner must give written notice of at least six months via the GGMC (Guyana Geology and Mines Commission) to the GFC (Guyana Forestry Commission) for any cutting or otherwise destroying, injuring or felling (killing of any tree)… [This] shall not be proceeded with until the GFC would have granted its no objection to the GGMC.”
Yesterday hundreds of yellow-clad miners were told that while they have to give six months notice, an initial area will be set aside for them to mine as they await permission to operate in other areas. “You are not at the mercy of loggers”, Jagdeo assured. The main recommendations of the SLUC were laid out in broad terms and the details were not ventured into. Chairman of the Committee, Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn said that the document would be available shortly. Jagdeo has also extended the life of the Committee and representatives of small miners will be added.
- A miner, who operates in the Upper Mazaruni area, making a point when the floor was opened at yesterday’s forum.
At the end of the meeting, some miners told this newspaper that they were pleased with the outcome; others said that they did not fully understand while several expressed the view that they were not told everything. Executive Secretary of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), Edward Shields had no comment, when approached. He said that he has to study the documents before he can give a reaction.
Spokesman for the Committee of Concerned Barticians, Frederick McWilfred said that he is yet to study the document but said that it was a “great plus” that Jagdeo has extended the terms of the SLUC to take into consideration the views of small miners and
mining communities. Mining dependant communities- Bartica, Port Kaituma and Mahdia had protested and held rallies to oppose the six month proposal. McWilfred, declaring their actions successful, said that government now seems willing and open to address the concerns of all segments of the sector, which did not seem to be so before.
Noting that the greatest concern of the sector was that mining would be halted for six months and this, the small miners would not have been be able to withstand, McWilfred said that insofar as the pronouncement was made, the meeting was “fruitful” because the miners would be able to work continuously. He said that as the expanded committee continues its work; more vital issues that affect the entire sector would be brought to the fore.
- President Bharrat Jagdeo (in foreground) listens as a Bartica resident and small scale miner makes a point at yesterday’s forum at Liliendaal.
Surprised
The meeting, which lasted over three hours, was addressed first by Minister responsible for Mining, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who said that he was “surprised at the furore” that the proposal had caused.
Benn, in broadly outlining the main recommendations of the Committee, said that notification is required and by April 1, all ongoing operations are required to give notification so that the state has their details of the operation and machinery. After October 1, in the case of an overlap between the concessions of a surface rights holder (i.e. forestry operator) and sub-surface rights holder (miner), the miner will be restricted to an area of three hectares and will not be allowed to commence operations outside of this, until approval is granted. As he spoke, miners at one section of the centre’s entrance –because there was no room inside- complained loudly that “real miners get left out”.
In his address to the gathering, Jagdeo reminded that he has always said that it is not the intention of the government to stop mining and there would be changes but in consultation with miners. Pointing to the yellow jerseys worn by some miners with the printed slogan “please don’t stop gold mining in Guyana,” he said he wondered how his clear statement got translated into that slogan. According to the President, at a meeting he had with some miners yesterday, they told him that they were “totally misled”.
Noting that complaints were received from forestry operators as it relates to international certification, the president said that long before the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) came into being, there was a need to resolve this potential conflict between the surface and sub-surface rights holders. He said that almost two years ago, the discussion started about finding a balance between the two sectors but “we didn’t get very far”. He said that clearly now the issues need to be resolved and the administration could have done this unilaterally “as so often policymaking is done”.
Balance
According to the President, he met with a group of miners and “I said to them there are these issues that we have to deal with”. He said he wanted a committee of miners and cabinet members to sit and work together to see how they can find a balance and the SLUC was formed. Noting what Benn had outlined he said that now if a miner has to go to an area where someone has a TSA or hold forest rights, that person would have to notify the GGMC that they are going to start mining in that area. The GGMC would then put the option to the forester and within one month, they have to say whether they will extract the timber or not. “If they say no, we don’t want the timber because it’s too far in the forest…you can continue mining because you will have three hectares to start with”.
He explained that a miner will start with the three hectares on which there will be no restriction. Within a month if the logger says that they cannot extract the timber, the miner can continue outside of the three hectares, Jagdeo said. He stated that if the forester says that he can extract the timber, he has up to six months to extract the wood from that area. If it is not extracted within six months “then you have the right to move forward”. He added that if it is state forest where no one holds logging rights, the miners start with the three hectares and then within a month, the GGMC can get permission from the GFC for mining.
This is what the six months is about, he stated, not six months where miners have to notify and shut down operations and wait for permission.
Silly
He said that “silly newspaper articles and silly ads” were trying to whip up fear among the people and their fear was understandable. “If they mislead you at the very beginning by telling you the state wants to stop mining, then there’re creating unnecessary grief”, he stated.
He recalled government’s concessions to the sector and questioned how they would want to shut it down. He noted that the GGDMA is on the Steering Committee of the LCDS and said that in the future Guyana can get as much as much as US$500M in the treasury to keep forests standing. He said that over the next five years Guyana will get US$50M from Norway and this is twice as much as the country earns from the entire gold production in the country in terms of tax revenue. He said that the administration has decided that Guyana will keep deforestation at minimum historic levels so this allows Guyana enough space not just to continue mining but to expand mining. The GGDMA knew this, the President said.
He stated that he wants to broaden the discussions to look at other issues such as limits to claims owned by persons, noting that small miners complain that they go to work on the claims’ of others and when gold is found, they get kicked off. The president said that he wants to get the views of small miners because not all of them are represented on the GGDMA. “So today we’re not gonna settle on those recommendations. I plan to get more people involved in the discussions so we have a total look at the sector”, he asserted. The president said that he will set up a special team to look into the problems faced by small miners. He said that in the next two months, hopefully, he will meet with the miners again.
He urged a long-term vision for the sector. He said that change is inevitable and they have to do it but not with the objective of shutting down the miners but to make them more successful. According to the President, the changes in the sector are not major as has occurred in other sectors such as forestry. He urged the miners to look at the recommendations and stated that he wants to broaden the conversation and wants the views of persons on whether they should open up things to everyone such as foreigners and getting rid of landlordism and issues like mercury use. “These are issues that have to be tackled if we want this industry to…prosper”, he stated.
During the open floor, one miner raised the issue of proposed prospecting before mining and the 10% of land that the GGDMA had requested be set aside for mining and to be exempt from the rules of the Norway agreement. Jagdeo, noting the global carbon trading market, responded that setting aside the land is “clearly not a feasible option” because of its structure. He said that if miners’ clear-fell 10% of the territory, they will exceed historic deforestation levels and all the money will go down the drain. He noted that “they are going to use satellite imagery to check our compliance”.
McWilfred asked that a representative of the Forest Products Association be included in the expanded Committee and that the Committee go out of the city and interact with miners. One miner said that the three hectares was a little small to work with and the President responded that six months is the maximum that the foresters are given to respond. He reiterated that on unallocated state forest, the miner can move in immediately and he believes that adequate measures are in place to ensure continuity. He insisted that persons were “misled” on the six months proposal.
Miners raised several other issues with one speaking about undocumented Brazilians while another stated that small miners who don’t have land are at a disadvantage. One asked that an interior airstrip be repaired while another declared that the land “lottery” is a “fraud” and another raised the issue of roads.
The issue of mercury was also raised and a way must be found to deal with this urgently, Jagdeo said noting that if current practices continue, there may be restrictions on the selling of gold. One miner spoke of the lack of awareness programmes by the GGMC and Jagdeo noted the need to send a team to Mahdia, Port Kaituma and Bartica.
