Another quarrying company has been exempted from conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment here at two locations as the Environmental Protection Agency believes the project will not significantly affect the environment.
The Dragon Mining Company Inc has been given permission by the EPA to set up the stone quarry at the confluence of the Supenaam and Karani rivers, in the Cuyuni Mining District.
While the EPA said that the project summary can be found on its website, this is not the case. It is unclear why the EPA publishes the notices with links for projects not yet uploaded. Calls to the regulatory body’s head yesterday went unanswered.
With the demand for stone due to the construction boom here since oil discovery, the PPP/C had moved to issue a number of quarrying licences, including to sanctioned businessmen Nazar and Azurrindin Mohamed.
Last year January, the government announced that it had granted some 19 quarrying licences since it took office in 2020.
In 2021, Minister of Housing Susan Rodrigues had explained that the government’s granting of additional quarry licences had been informed by high demand.
“We are aware that suppliers are struggling at the moment to fill their orders and this is why government has granted additional quarry licences. And this is why we have ensured that we zero-rate the taxes on construction materials and so on,” she had said. “Measures we have implemented make it easy for people to build their home and projects and to also make it cheaper.”
That same year, Benjamin Marine and Salvage Services Inc (BMSSI) filed an action in the High Court against the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) which it said illegally cancelled its quarry licence and asked that the court compel both the Commissioner and the Commission to restore its licence granted back in 2017 and to quash their decision giving notice of the intention to grant the quarry licence to York Investment.
Among the many prospective quarry operators is prominent gold dealer Tamesh Jagmohan who was granted a licence in December 2020 at the 7,000-plus acres Mazaruni, Region Seven quarry. He had said that he would have been partnering with an international operator to effectively satisfy local demand in the shortest possible time “so that we don’t have to import while simultaneously addressing local content and providing employment opportunities.”
In 2021, this newspaper reported that the Potaro Mining Company and the Malali Quarry Inc had applied for environmental permits to operate quarries in regions Seven and Ten respectively. Naturalised Chinese and tenant of Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Su Zhirong, who was at the centre of bribery allegations by US-based network VICE Media had been granted a quarrying licence for over 2000 acres of land in Region Seven. Under the company, Southern Canton International Trad-ing Inc, Su applied for a quarry licence to operate in the Mazaruni mining district, citing a planned investment of US$11.7 million. The company was granted the licence for 2,289 acres, referred to as Turiruba in the Korerit and Mazaruni rivers.
At the same time, Highland Quarries Inc had also applied and the EPA had stated that both were exempted from Environ-mental Impact Assess-ments. Highland Quarries explained that the potential operation had start-up capital of US$3.61 million and a total investment of US$10.13 million.
It was expected to produce 200,000 tonnes of stone annually, increasing capacity by 10% every year for the estimated 15-year mine life of the project. Those companies distanced themselves from Su shortly after the controversy.
Tri-County Inc applied in 2022, and said that it too “recognizes the demand for aggregate, the current limitations of supply, and the anticipated increase in demand from the emerging oil and gas sector and the expanding construction sector.”
In 2022, businessman Mohamed signed a US$25 million agreement with China Harbour Engineering Company Limited to execute work in Region Seven from his Hadi’s World Inc’s Quarry. He and the GGMC were also taken to Court by BK Quarries for permits granted. Mohamed won that case last month.
However, he and his son were this month sanctioned by the United States with their quarrying business included. It is unclear what will happen to the establishment.
