Stabroek Business has learnt that the recent closure of Brazilian-run mining operations here by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment could become the subject of bilateral discourse as both officials in northern Brazil and the Brazilian Embassy here are reportedly paying an interest in the development.
Last week it was reported that a number of illegal mining operations, including several operations run by Brazilians had been closed down, a circumstance which the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) blamed in large measure on the slothfulness of the authorities in addressing the issue of work permits for the Brazilians.
On Tuesday evening, Brazilian miners operating in Guyana announced the setting up of the Brazilian Miners and General Association (BMGA) an organization which they say will be lobbying to ensure that the protracted period which it takes to have work permits issued can be significantly reduced.
This newspaper has been reliably informed that the Brazilian miners have now taken the position that their contributions to the local mining sector, particularly in terms of the technology that they have brought to mining, merit the elevation of their status above that of so-called Garimperos, a position which the GGDMA says it supports. Both GGDMA President Patrick Harding and Acting Executive Secretary Colin Sparman have told Stabroek Business that the association supports the regularization of the Brazilian miners.
Incidents in mining communities in Suriname and Guyana involving Brazilian miners have been frequent in recent years and the GGDMA concedes that Brazilians have been the targets of both heists by bandits and shakedowns by corrupt policemen. The GGDMA believes that the decision by the Brazilian miners to set up their own association rather than join to GGDMA – an option which this newspaper learnt was open to them – has probably been influenced by their intention to have the Brazilian authorities intervene formally with the Government of Guyana to hasten the issuance of work permits.
