A technical joint working group that would have carried out a review of environmental issues and concerns pertaining to river and tributary mining never got off the ground but issues are being discussed between the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA).
“There is no specific working group to look at river claims,” GGDMA administrative coordinator Colin Sparman told Stabroek News, adding that now the issues are being examined at the “different level” between the GGMC and the GGDMA.
In July, the joint working group, which was to have included representatives from the GGMC, the GGDMA, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was agreed to after the miners’ lobby met with Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, Commissioner of the GGMC Karen Livan, and the then Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GGMC Joseph Singh.
The meeting came after miners, at a GGDMA meeting, declared that they had no confidence in Persaud. The miners’ action came after government halted the processing of applications for mining in rivers due to the GGMC being overwhelmed by reports from stakeholders of damage caused by “increasingly irresponsible mining in Guyana’s rivers and tributaries.”
A review was to have been done to decide on the way forward and Persaud when questioned by Stabroek News previously on the time the review will take did not give a definite period but said that the ministry wants the review to be done in the shortest possible time but does not want a “rush job.” The GGMC had subsequently said that the moratorium on processing of river claims will last for one month. It has since been lifted and miners, earlier this month, following a meeting with President Donald Ramotar, won assurances of no bans on river mining or on the use of mercury.
When contacted earlier this week, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud asked that questions be sent to him via email. When contacted again on Wednesday, he said that he was travelling.
However, Sparman told Stabroek News that initially because of the issues that the miners association was confronting at the time, the GGDMA declined to join the working group. Subsequently, he said, as they miners won concessions, fortnightly meetings were agreed to between the GGDMA and the GGMC and monthly meetings with the Minister.
“It (the working group) didn’t come into being but the items that should have been discussed are being discussed at another level between the GGMC and the GGDMA,” Sparman said.
Thus far, the EPA is not a part of the technical discussions with the GGMC, Sparman noted. But, he added, they could be drafted in at some point.
The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) had come out in support of the cessation of applications and had commended the Ministry and the GGMC “for their courage in facing the hostilities such a decision would predictably generate from factions within the industry.” Subsequently, after the moratorium was lifted and the concessions revealed, the GHRA said that the concession by the government that there would be no ban on mercury and river dredging has shown how ineffective the environmental community is on pursuing issues of national interest, even as it called for a review of “inadequate” mining regulations. Director of non-governmental organisation Conservation International, Dr. David Singh, in an interview with Stabroek News had also lamented the lifting of the moratorium on river mining before a full discussion of the issues and had said it was “unfortunate.”
