Member of Parliament for the main opposition party APNU Joseph Harmon said that he is unconvinced that the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has a handle on the royalties that BOSAI Minerals is supposed to pay to Guyana for its bauxite extraction, which he estimates to be in the order of US$54 million.
He said that this came out of a meeting of the Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources held on Wednesday at the Public Buildings.
“I pointed out to the Minister [Robert Persaud] that BOSAI has a contract with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) which requires that the company pays royalties,” he said.
He noted that there had been a three-year moratorium on the payment of royalties to the government.
However, he said that the three-year period has come to an end and that the company is in the second year of a second three year period.
“I asked the Minister whether this information is correct,” Harmon said.