Dear Editor,
In a strongly worded and offensive press release issued on January 19, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) revealed their contempt for us small miners, calling us puppets and acolytes while accusing us of being sellouts and itinerants. This assault is even more perplexing when one considers that both the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Finance had both issued positive press releases highlighting the progress made at the meeting with the GGDMA, the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) and a few small mining groups.
It appears the GGDMA was offended by the presence of these small mining groups at the meeting hosted by government to allay miners’ concerns on tax measures announced in the 2017 Budget. This is because the GGDMA is accustomed to having their own private meetings with government officials, where they dictate what happens in the mining industry in Guyana.
But on Monday January 16, at 4pm, the coalition government of President David Granger represented by the Minister of Natural Resources, the Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Minister of Finance included small mining groups in the dialogue between the Government of Guyana and miners. These kinds of dialogue would have traditionally excluded small miners so we are grateful to the Ministers, especially Minister Broomes who invited us to this meeting.
However, we small miners are no longer itinerants who can be bullied or evicted by the members of the GGDMA, but instead we are now mining syndicates with a voice and a seat at the decision-making table. We have also started to receive lands to work from this government, and we are no longer at the mercy of the GGDMA. The GGDMA knows that the day we small miners can have direct dialogue with the government on mining issues in this country then their control and manipulation of the mining industry will be over. GGDMA now feels threatened; they feel they are losing their traditionally privileged position.
The GGDMA members are the super-rich in the gold mining industry and they have nothing in common with the average miner or mine-worker. They do not relate to us, they do not speak for us, nor do they face the same challenges we face. We small miners cannot trust the GGDMA, among other things because of the misinformation they are peddling about small miners disrupting the meeting with government.
The GGDMA should apologize to the government ministers and us small miners for their misleading statements.
Yours faithfully.
Garfield Wint
Chairman
Konawaruk Mining Syndicate
