Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes on Monday joined 15 other mines ministers in Toronto, Canada for the inaugural global summit on the sustainable development of communities.
Convened at the Toronto Convention Centre, the International Mines Ministers’ Summit (IMMS) was organised by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) and the World Economic Forum (WEF). A release from the Ministry of Natural Resources yesterday said that the summit coincided with the PDAC annual conference, which is described as the world’s biggest gathering of mining professionals.
Broomes was reported as saying that the summit will be beneficial to Guyana in the long term as a result of the network that was created.
Addressing the closed-door summit was renowned political scientist and author, Dr. Francis Fukuyama of the United Sates who focused on governance of the mining extractive sector.
Governments, he said, according to the press release, need to “put away when times are good for when times are bad”. He warned of the other challenges which create inequalities, threats to communities and environmental risks. The release said that Dr. Fukuyama also zeroed in on the transparency aspect of the sector pointing out that mining occurs mostly in the remote areas of countries which makes it difficult for governments to effectively manage it. As a result the industry is constantly marred by poor governance and “outright corruption.”
“The summit for me was a success for Guyana and the Government. More emphasis needs to be placed improving our mining sector and we must focus on making the lives of especially small miners better,” Broomes said in the press release.
