Following complaints by the residents of Linden that sand and loam were being removed illegally from the region, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman on Wednesday stated that the Guyana Geology and Mines Com-mission (GGMC) was not doing enough to monitor movement of the two materials as “people are literally trucking them away.”
PPP/C Member of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources Pauline Sukhai raised the issue during a committee hearing on Wednesday, while stating that the concerns were raised during the committee’s recent outreach to the community.
GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison, who was also at the meeting, admitted that the commission has some difficulties with monitoring the situation.
According to Trotman, persons have started to dig near to the Soesdyke Highway, which is undermining the integrity of the highway.
Chairman of the committee, PPP/C MP Odinga Lumumba, said he understands that the sand and loam are controlled by a private person or the region, but according to the complaints by residents, persons are “just coming into the region, putting the things in trucks and carry it away; it don’t make any sense to me.”
Dennison admitted that there are some challenges by the commission to get “out there to do the sand monitoring and so on.”
Questioned by Lumumba about whether the commission needs equipment, Dennison would only say “we are facing some challenges” but the Chairman continued by enquiring whether the Minister had been provided with a list of the commission’s needs. “We are working on it,” Dennison replied, while adding that the movement of the material during the night is what is causing the issue.
“But Chief, is trucks moving these things, is not any invisible hands,” Lumumba responded even as Dennison said that the commission has to devise some monitoring mechanisms “that include the night as well as the day.”
“Just get a vehicle and get two inspectors and put them on the night shift… You get the money, you have been collecting more gold, Minister wouldn’t have a problem approving that,” was the committee Chairman’s suggestion, to which Minister Trotman said “No, no….”
“In fact, I do wish to see more monitoring of the sand pits. We are working on it…,” Trotman further stated.
Meanwhile, Region Ten’s representative in the National Assembly Audwin Rutherford, who also sits on the committee, enquired about the procedure to get into sand mining. To this, Commissioner Dennison explained that persons would have to be issued with mining permits once the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission allocates an area for the mining.
“If someone comes and says they want to mine sand somewhere, we first require… the no objection from Lands and Survey to the area where they want to mine… and… once it falls in an area that Lands and Survey had already allocated for sand mining, we are in a position to grant a permit,” Dennison said.
He said the commission has a sand monitoring unit and in answer to the Chairman he said that he was willing to have persons accompany Rutherford to areas where it is believed that persons are operating without the requisite permit in the region.
Sukhai pointed out that complaints from the residents were that contractors out of Linden are travelling to the area and removing material even though she said she “finds it a little farfetched but the claim is that they losing revenue.”
Rutherford said “there is no secret” that just about two years ago loam was being transported down the highway from just around the Berbice River.
Bauxite
And Lumumba asked the Minister about the status of an application for bauxite mining by one Hilbert Shields.
To this, Trotman said that there are two applications before GGMC for the same area—from First Bauxite, which held the area before and has sought to retain it, and from Shields.
In 2011, Shields was the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Company First Bauxite Corporation when it signed a multi-million dollar mineral agreement with the Guyana Government. At the time, the company had said it was moving towards acquiring the necessary funds to commence construction of a bauxite mine at Bonasika, in the Essequibo River by early 2012. At that time, Shields had stated that the construction would take approximately 18 months and that he hoped it would be commissioned by the end of 2013 and start producing in 2014.
It is not clear if it is this same area that Shields is now applying for or if it is the same individual that is now making the application.
However, he said Dennison is in the process of putting together a paper to be presented to Cabinet about the longer term viability of the bauxite industry.
“You know, what deposits do we have left in Guyana, where are they, what are their life and this is something… that we hope to complete very shortly,” Trotman said.
Lumumba pointed out that bauxite is not as competitive as it used to be and therefore care should be exercised that other players are not brought into the market and make those that exist feel that it is not feasible to continue.
“Well there is a number of things we have to look at, indeed we don’t want to create a monopolistic view that only the two of us or the three of us control everything. But at the same time, given the state of the industry, there are not many takers either…,” Trotman stated, while adding that there is a responsibility to protect those “who have taken the chance in investing.”
He, however, said high standards are expected from those companies and the government is prepared to work with both Bosai and RUSAL to ensure they are producing and have a level of comfort but at the same time there are other issues, such as labour, which also have to be addressed.
Lumumba said the committee will be compiling a report from its recent outreach to Linden as there are reports of labour infractions at Bosai. However, he noted that most have to do with education and a misunderstanding of the how the payroll is put together. He said the committee would reach out to the Ministry of Social Protection to have labour officers visit the company and also approach the Ministry of Finance to have officials visit to go through the figures with employees.
