Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) is lamenting the poisoning of the major waterways in Guyana by mining and the concomitant reduction of the country’s freshwater resources.
PFG is a network of civic organizations which came into existence in 2015 with the general aim of strengthening electoral, environmental and financial accountability. Membership of the PFG currently comprises some twenty-two organisations covering trade union, indigenous, women, youth, transparency and faith-based organisations active in Guyana.
In a release on Saturday, the Forum referred to the launch of Mining Week at the Umana Yana on Friday hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MoNR) and the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission (GGMC) which it said provided “a reassuring display of their technical capacity to combat wanton destruction of forests and rivers.” It further stated that the demonstration of cutting-edge technology “showed a capacity to account for every tree in the forests and every dredge on the rivers” and commended both agencies on this imaginative outreach to the wider community.
Also highlighted was the announcement from the MoNR of its intention to make the acquisition of mercury more difficult. The PFG acknowledged that while this measure will “hopefully reduce Guyana’s current free-for-all,” it feels that it falls “way short” of the robust commitment to eliminate mercury within a realistic time-frame.
According to the PFG, the point of good science is to provide reliable evidence to enact proper policy and it used the example of the recent forest devastation in neighbouring Brazil and its disclosure to the world as an example of one of the uses of science. However, opined the Forum, “In addressing the climate crisis, time is of the essence, not something we can eventually get around to. Science, however sophisticated, is not a substitute for good policy.”
Mention was made of an item recently carried in the Sunday Stabroek which highlighted a complaint by the South Rupununi District Council of two dredges sited on the Kuyuwini River, one of the headwaters tributaries of the Essequibo River. PFG noted that in response, the relevant Government agencies (MoNR and GGMC) “lamented” their inability to take action because there was no evidence the dredges were breaking any laws. In addition, the Forum stated that this complaint comes two months after the statement made by the President of Guyana, David Granger stressing the fact that “protection of our forests and the Shield’s biodiversity help to protect planet earth. We are part of that global resource.”
The release reminded that the stipulation that no mining licences are to be issued below the 4th parallel of latitude, was gazetted by Prime Minister Sam Hinds in 2011 and further observed that there could be only one reason for taking the trouble to haul the parts of a dredge to a remote river, adding that “…it’s safe to speculate it’s not to play dominoes.” The Forum added that in any event, the transporting and building of the dredges also required the use of indigenous landings and labour.
The way the PFG sees it, if the national policy were simply to ban river mining nationwide once current licences expired, there would be no excuse for what President Granger has referred to as “dreadful dragga dredges” being on any rivers in the country. According to the PFG, fresh water will be more valuable than oil in a surprisingly short time as global supplies which are already down to one per cent of all water on the planet, continue to shrink and reminded that on World Environment Day, some two months ago, President Granger committed his government to eliminating the use of mercury and reducing the negative impact of mining on rivers while stating, “The Guiana Shield, with 15% of the world’s freshwater reserves – is a global resource. It provides environmental services such as the regulation of the water cycle, water quality and pollination.”
What the PFG therefore sees is a lack of firm action to protect fresh water resources – the most valuable long-term natural resource Guyana possesses – which it considers to be “short-sighted.” PFG noted that Guyana is committed to the elimination of the use of mercury by 2027 – by a special dispensation of the Minamata Convention which stipulates 2020 and estimates that by 2027, the Kuyuwini and all of Guyana’s great rivers will be “irrevocably” poisoned by mercury.
It is the Forum’s view that all the great rivers of Guyana; the Puruni, the Mazaruni, the Cuyuni, the Potaro, Essequibo, and Demerara “are being sacrificed to extraction.” The cost to these arteries of Guyana has to be calculated in terms “not only of quality of human life but also extinction of wildlife, fish stocks and bio-diversity,” and therefore, the costs are “incalculable.”
According to the release, other countries such as Colombia, New Zealand and India are all developing more robust approaches to environmental protection, including extending legal personality to rivers and appointing river guardians to enforce these laws.
The PFG called for a fundamental re-assessment of the regulatory and legal policies governing river protection, encompassing all relevant agencies along with indigenous communities.
