Government yesterday declared zero tolerance for illegal mining and for the corrupt processing of documents for non-nationals, informing that from now all middlemen and brokers have been eliminated.
At an almost three-hour interactive forum held between the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Brazilian community at the Celina Atlantic Resort, Georgetown, this position was reiterated by both that subject Minister Robert Persaud and Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee.
“There will be zero tolerance for breaches of our regulations and mining act as it pertains to all those who operate within the mining sector… Do not deal with any broker; do not deal with any sponsor who does not have a mining claim. From today, the GGMC will not process any documents brought by any person, he or she, alone without a sponsor nor will they be taking recommendations from any middle man or broker,” Persaud said, as he delivered the feature address.
The panel was chaired by Deputy Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Rickford Vieira and consisted not only of the two government ministers but Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur; GGMC Commissioner, Karen Livan; GGMC Chairman Major General (rtd), Joe Singh; Commander of the police’s ‘E&‘F’ Division Senior Superintendent Clifton Hicken and the GGMC’s legal officer.
Persaud stated that the move was one aimed not only at regularizing the sector but specifically to target persons who often fleece Brazilians, charging exorbitant fees for work and mining permits.
Miners had openly complained that because of logistics and the language barrier they would pay persons, mostly middlemen or brokers, but the list also included persons from law enforcement and government ministries, up to $400,000 for a permit that costs only $5,000. They bemoaned the processing time for permits saying they are made to wait between eight to 18 months for a single permit and if they do not pay the required sums the process can take even longer.
Minister Rohee, who attempted to give clarity on the requirements and processing of permits, said persons would sometimes pay as much as $800,000 for a work permit. Referring to the exploitative acts as a “racket” headed by the middlemen, Rohee maintained that his ministry was being wrongfully accused. “Where that money goes, I can only assume,” Rohee said. “It does not come to my ministry nor does it come to me. Who gets this $800,000? Certainly not the government… it is shared. We are being accused…”
Responding to the claims of having to wait overbearingly long periods he added that his ministry was currently undergoing a revamping process where permits will soon be done faster. “As the minister I find it unacceptable that it would take that long. As far as I’m concerned it should not [be] even a month… It is unacceptable that a person can be waiting one year and six months to process a work permit. We have taken a decision yesterday at my ministry to do some work on this,” he said saying that non-nationals would soon experience the speedy system.
This was met by thunderous applause from the audience, after it was translated to Portuguese by the interpreter, given that many the attendees who were there to deal with work permit/immigration issues, neither spoke nor understood English.
The Home Minister also apologized for the rogue and exploitative acts by members of the Guyana Police Force, who were vehemently criticized by the Brazilians for profiling them and demanding that they pay sums of money so as not to be hassled. One miner who shared his experience said that he had paid policemen five times since arriving in the country on May 10.
Several miners told Stabroek News that police would often patrol the upper Robb Street area and although they had their passports documenting their legal stay, they would still be told that they needed to visit the police station. To avoid the hassle and inconvenience, they claimed, they would dole out sums of cash. But they said they were frustrated and fed up.
‘1-800-runnings’
Persaud expressed shock and fury that mining on state land reserves was still occurring although it had been abolished.
The issue surfaced when Brazilian miner, Andre Fumiere, told the meeting that earlier this year he had been granted permission to mine on State Land Reserve at Kamarang. When he told Persaud that he was granted permission by the GGMC, the minister became furious and said no permission should have been granted. He asked Fumiere to go to his office with the contract.
Persaud was then told by a GGMC official that in 1994, all the state mining reserves with the exception of two were converted. Those two, including Kamarang, were left at the discretion of GGMC to be allocated on a case by case basis to Guyanese only. However, recently there has been a freeze on that too.
Persaud referred to the corrupt acts as “1-800-runnings” but vowed to regularize the agencies that fall under his ministry. He declared that no one nationality was targeted and gave credit to the Brazilians for the technology they had brought to the Guyana gold and diamond industry.
He also stated that he will continue to work to ensure that mining and environmental regulations are adhered to since not only the financial aspect was important, but sustainability and accountability as well.
