Following an appeal by gold miners for relief in the face of falling gold prices and equipment repossessions, President Donald Ramotar yesterday signalled that concessions could be granted as he announced a plan to set up an inter-ministerial committee to address issues in the mining sector.
At a special meeting held yesterday at the Regency Hotel, Ramotar announced a number of provisional concessions, including duty waivers on equipment to make the transition to cleaner recovery methods, subject to refining by the committee working with the executive of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA).
“We could look and see how we could help with the repossessed equipment,” he said, adding that government was also pursuing hire purchase legislation to address a number of issues. These include protection of consumers who would have paid the majority of the cost of the equipment from repossession for want of payment of the penultimate or final instalment.
The president also undertook to provide assistance to small and medium miners for land reclamation following mining in a particular area, so that it can be returned to a state viable for the proliferation of the ecosystems and biodiversity.
He said too that the government will look at making duty-free all equipment that miners will use to make the transition to cleaner methods of mining and recovery but noted that the large players in the industry will have to make the transition on their own, with no state help.
He also said that any consideration for the removal of duties from four-door, four wheel drive pickups must be tied to gold declaration.
“We must make this concession conditional and not across the board,” said the President. “We can [also] consider reducing some of the rentals for properties,” he said.
“I will form a small inter-ministerial committee to meet with your executive on the issues,” said Ramotar.
“Government is concerned with the falling gold prices,” he noted, before going on to outline some of the contributions of the sector to the economy of the country.
“We hope that the price fall in gold is temporary,” he said, blaming speculation for the decrease in the price of the metal which peaked earlier last year at around US$1,800 an ounce. It is now down to about US$1,200 an ounce.
The president said that not a lot has changed on the world scale to push prices to the level they are at and he concluded that it must be all speculative.
“I am still hoping that it is a temporary situation we’re facing,” he said.
On crime in the gold fields, Ramotar said that it is a huge concern for the administration. “I will ensure you have a meeting with the Commissioner of Police, the leadership of the Guyana Police Force and the Minister of Home Affairs to ensure that your ideas and suggestions can be taken on board,” he said.
He added that the loss of the Amaila Hydro project is also a loss to the mining sector which would have benefited.
“We have not given up on that…we are working to start it back this year sometime,” said Ramotar. Developer of that project Sithe Global pulled out of the project after two pieces of legislation in the National Assembly pivotal for the financial arrangements to go through did not win unanimous support.
Also speaking at the meeting, President of the GGDMA Patrick Harding said that the industry must find ways of trimming the fat to stay alive in the context of falling gold prices. He said that operators in the industry are finding it difficult to raise the capital required to acquire the technology need to mine in an environmentally-friendly manner and in a manner that would see greater recovery of gold.
Harding called for the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to have more land allotted to small miners. He called on sector minister–Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud—to expedite lotteries for mining lands. He complained that large miners have received concessions that continue to elude the smaller players.
Harding called for the government to grant the entire mining sector duty-free fuel and called for reduction of rental rates for mining properties by 50 percent. He also called for duty-free concessions for four-door, four wheel drive pickup trucks.
On crime, he called for more police outposts in the mining areas and for there to be more frequent mobile police patrols.
Harding called for the appointment of a Commissioner of Mines at the GGMC and said that the administrative burdens miners face when transacting business at the GGMC continue to cost the industry money.
He also called on government to assist miners in upgrading to cleaner and more efficient methods of recovery.
