The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), recently conducted a number of inspections of quarries in the Mazaruni and Essequibo areas and found that most of the operations were at an acceptable level of compliance with their permits and management plans.
The Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Natural Resources also participated in the inspections. According to the EPA, previous visits to some of the quarries in the area had revealed that many were not complying with the permits. These were recorded and the operators were told to implement remedial measures.
As a result, the EPA along with collaborating agencies planned a five-day exercise, which saw a team inspecting quarries to see whether they were complying with the conditions of the Environmental Authorisations that they were granted in order to operate.
“The GGMC examined the compliance of quarries with the requirements of Mining License and Quarry Management Plans. The Ministry of Natural Resources assessed whether the demands of quarries were being fulfilled and whether mines were being fully utilized by operators. The Ministry of Labour looked at occupational health and safety issues affecting employees of the sector and whether they were adequately addressed by the operators,” the EPA said.
It noted that all the quarries that were visited were permitted by the EPA and GGMC to conduct mining activities during a stipulated timeframe. During the joint inspection, the EPA found that some quarries have addressed all their non-compliance issues previously communicated to them by the Agency. However, some quarries were unable to fully address all non-compliance issues but made some progress. The Agency intends to work with these quarries towards full compliance.
Based on its recent inspection, EPA said it has concluded that most of the operations visited were at an acceptable level of compliance with their permits and management plans.
The EPA said it plans to continue to use the approach of joint inspections but will also conduct quarterly inspections, to audit the compliance of quarries with the conditions of their Permits.
