Holder, Bharrat differ over gold, bauxite progress

APNU+AFC MP Shurwayne Holder on Tuesday called for better spending of oil revenues to ease the cost of living and Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat charged that the opposition did not deliver on their 2015 100 days pledges.

In his presentation on the 2025 budget, Holder, stated that the People’s Progres-sive Party (PPP) government’s policies, “failed to engage with the opposition and civil society groups and had exacerbated the struggles of ordinary Guyanese despite the country’s rapid economic growth driven by oil revenues”. Holder also accused the current administration of presenting a budget lacking in policy direction and argued that without a collaborative approach to governance, many Guyanese would continue to face economic hardship.

Holder pointed to the burgeoning oil industry as a catalyst for the country’s economic transformation, yet criticized the government’s failure to use oil revenues effectively for the benefit of all citizens. “Our GDP has surpassed all our Caricom and South American neighbors,” Holder said, but added that many Guyanese still struggled to meet basic needs.

“If we do not change our approach toward governance, a majority of Guyanese will continue to suffer the way they are”,  despite the windfall from oil.  Holder contended  that the government had missed an opportunity to adopt a more inclusive approach to policy-making. He argued that the ruling PPP had failed to consult opposition members, civil society, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in shaping the national budget, claiming that this lack of consultation undermined their “One Guyana” slogan, which he described as an empty campaign promise. Holder also expressed frustration with the government’s failure to address crucial sectors such as gold and bauxite mining. “Gold still accounts for 6 to 8% of non-oil GDP, yet the industry continues to decline,” Holder said. He added that Guyana had lost nearly $300 billion in potential revenue from the gold industry alone due to poor governance and an alleged preference for large-scale mining companies connected to the government’s supporters.

Turning his attention to the gold industry, Holder painted a bleak picture, noting that production had dropped by over 30% since the end of the APNU-AFC administration in 2019. Despite projections of growth in previous budgets, Holder said that gold production continued to decline under the PPP government. “If they just maintained the 2019 production level, we would have gained over 700,000 more ounces of gold,” he argued, highlighting the lost revenue due to poor policy implementation. Holder also criticized the decline in bauxite production, which he said was exacerbated by the departure of companies like RUSAL and the PPP’s failure to leverage Guyana’s bauxite deposits effectively.  RUSAL shut its operations under the APNU+AFC government.

“The government cannot keep blaming the past administration for their failures,” Holder said, stating that the APNU+AFC had rescued the rice industry in the face of similar challenges. He vowed that a future APNU government would focus on utilizing the country’s natural resources to their fullest potential. In his review of the oil and gas sector, Holder criticized the government for its handling of the country’s oil wealth, particularly regarding the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) and the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). He questioned the government’s use of 95% of the NRF funds, suggesting that such short-term spending would leave future generations without adequate resources for long-term development. Holder also expressed alarm over the government’s refusal to fully disclose how oil revenues were spent.

In response to Holder, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat cited  the opposition’s failure to deliver on their 100-day plan back in 2015. He accused Holder and the APNU+AFC of failing to present any meaningful alternative policies during their time in office. “Rather than focusing on constructive debate, the opposition has once again chosen to play politics,” Bharrat said, defending the government’s achievements in natural resource management. He asserted that the gold mining sector had seen improvements under the current administration, despite the challenges it faced, and that the government was committed to ensuring sustainable development of the country’s resources. The minister also dismissed claims of favouritism in the gold mining industry, emphasizing the government’s ongoing efforts to regulate and support miners, both large and small. “The claims of mismanagement and corruption are baseless and politically motivated,” Bharrat stated.

He also refuted Holder’s speech by calling the opposition’s promises “lofty” and “unrealistic.” Bharrat pointed to the PPP/C’s achievements, including significant improvements in bauxite and gold production, the construction of new infrastructure projects like the Demerara River Bridge, and the creation of thousands of jobs in the oil and gas sector. He also highlighted the PPP/C’s environmental record, emphasizing that Guyana is now recognized as one of the best models globally for balancing economic development with environmental sustainability.

“Under the PPP, bauxite production reached 1.7 million tonnes, and we have directly employed 7,000 Guyanese in the oil and gas sector,” Bharrat asserted. He further dismissed the opposition’s claims of failure, pointing to what he said was the fulfillment of promises such as the creation of 50,000 jobs, 20,000 scholarships, the introduction of free university education, and the expansion of healthcare and educational infrastructure.