Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud last week, announced the appointment of Clinton Williams as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and also confirmed Rickford Vieira’s appointment as Commissioner.
A release from the minister’s office said that Persaud made the appointments in accordance with the GGMC’s Act. He stated that the appointments were expected to improve the efficiency and organisational functioning of the commission. The new appointees, he said, “will address the challenges that are facing the mining sector towards enhancing its operation.”
The minister also pointed out that there will be a continuous review of the operation of the commission and other critical appointments will be made shortly.
Williams has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana National Industrial Company Inc, since its privatisation in 1995 and previously, he served its predecessor, Guyana National Engineering Corporation in various senior executive roles.
He is a professional industrial engineer with both first and second degrees in Mechanical and Industrial Engineer-ing. He is also a member of several international professional associations in the shipping and engineering fields and has completed a number of publications, research projects and reports in this capacity. The confirmed Commissioner of GGMC, Rickford Vieira is a qualified Mining Engineer with a Master’s of Engineering (1997) from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and a Bachelor’s of Engineering (1994) from the University of Guy-ana.
He also has extensive experience in project management, production management, field exploration, site rehabilitation, environmental impact assessment, environmental management planning, environmental monitoring, closure and decommissioning plans, feasibility studies, mineral inventory estimation, mine plans, mineral processing plant design, rehabilitation and re-vegetation of mined-out lands, and as a training instructor for mining and environmental studies.
He previously worked with WWF Guianas from 2004 to 2011 as the Regional Coordinator, Gold Mining Pollution Abatement Coordinator with responsibilities for conservation activities for the small scale gold mining sector in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
In addition, Vieira had functioned in various capacities at GGMC from 1984 to 2002 when he resigned as Senior Mineral Processing Engineer II.
He later worked with Environmental Manage-ment Consultants from 2005 to 2011 as a Mining Environmental Specialist.
He was also an independent environmental consultant for several mining projects in Guy-ana and Suriname and lectured part-time at the University of Guy-ana in the Department of Mining.
