The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) on Thursday defended the sector’s contribution to the economy and said that members are yet to benefit from duty-free concessions granted last year even as the deadline looms.
In a statement, the GGDMA expressed concern at recent comments made at a news conference by Chairman of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Rawle Lucas suggesting that mining is among the industries that earns the least revenue for Guyana. “The Association rejects this statement and has written to the head of the GRA for further clarification on these utterances,” the statement said.
The GGDMA pointed to Minister of Finance Winston Jordan’s 2016 budget speech, where he said, “…The valiant efforts of our local miners must be applauded, for it is the gold industry that will continue to drive growth in the economy over the medium term.”
The statement said that the GGDMA agrees with this statement and “wishes to reiterate that the direct and indirect contribution of gold and diamond mining to the Guyanese economy is among the largest of any industry.”
According to the GGDMA, unlike the manufacturing and services sectors that directly contribute to the state through a single stream via GRA, mining contributes through multiple streams. “In addition to payments of taxes to GRA, miners also contribute directly via payments to GGMC and the Guyana Gold Board; the value of these contributions amounts to in excess of 300% of what is paid to GRA,” the association declared.
It said that indirectly, the mining industry is a colossal driving force behind Guyana’s economy. “The mining industry fuels the economy via job creation and disposable income, which in turn has the trickledown supporting effect of creating employment and pumping spending into other sectors. If mining was to be removed from that equation, the ensuing reduction of disposable income and, as a consequence, demand for goods and services, would have such a damning impact particularly on sectors such as services, that their direct contribution to the state may dwindle to less than 50% of present value,” the GGDMA declared.
“Additionally, the mining industry is the most significant contributor to foreign currency earnings of the country, without which the cost of doing business in all the other sectors would increase. It must be noted also, that the industry serves a very important social role as a poverty alleviator, where many persons are given a legal means to earn an honest dollar in support of their families; not to mention the industry is the largest employer in hinterland communities,” it asserted.
The GGDMA acknowledged that in relation to tax compliance, there are non-compliance issues in the industry and said that it has urged all of its membership and all miners to make every effort to become fully tax compliant. “There is also a need on the part of GRA to do much more to sensitise the miners about what is their obligations to the state and how these contributions can be made. We recognise the need for efficient revenue collection and will support efforts to ensure that the state receives its direct contributions,” the statement said.
Duty-free delays
Meanwhile, the GGDMA also charged that delays by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is resulting in denial of duty free concessions.
“The GRA has worked with the GGDMA to identify tax compliant miners who are eligible for duty free concessions on items such as fuel, spares and vehicles. This list of compliant names has been submitted to GGMC over a couple of months now and yet, as of today, neither GRA nor GGDMA has received a reply from GGMC as to what is taking them so long to finalise their verification exercise,” the association declared.
“In the interim, no miner is able to access any of these concessions and this is a direct consequence of GGMC’s negligence. It was the expectation of the GGDMA that the GGMC, given its position as the regulatory body in charge of the mining industry, its knowledge regarding the hardships miners face, and the importance of the industry to the nation, would have acted in a more expeditious manner to complete this process,” it asserted.
The GGDMA called on Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman to intervene in the matter, saying that the period granted for the concessions has almost expired and no miner has benefitted from the concessions.
The association also reminded all miners to sell their gold only to authorised dealers or the Guyana Gold Board. It also urged miners to ensure that they are tax compliant and said that they can contact the GGDMA for assistance in this area.
