MINING week will be observed this year under the theme “Emerging from adversity, transitioning to sustainability.” The annual observance will be held for one week from August 21. Considering the anguish experienced by miners under the former coalition government through tone deaf policy making, the task was now for the President, Dr Irfaan Ali-led People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government to ensure, in the short period from 2020 to now, that the mining sector, which accounts for a good portion of national income, receives the needed support to continue smooth operations despite crippling global pressures from disease and supply chain disruptions.
Supporting the mining sector with their emergence from adversity, Dr. Ali’s government has, so far, provided more than $1.9 billion in direct relief for the mining sector. This newspaper reported in June that these benefits accrued from the removal or reduction of some taxes on products like lubricating oils. Aside from this, government also intends to deliver an investment of $2.4 billion into upgrading roads in mining areas.
When these measures were announced to stakeholders of the mining sector earlier this year, it was Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who made the announcement in the company of Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat and officials of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA). From the engagement, mining stakeholders were encouraged to engage among themselves and formulate a comprehensive report which would be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers. VP Jagdeo urged them to explore possible institutional reforms, and suggestions for structural and operational changes.
Just days after Guyana joined the rest of the world in observing the international day for Indigenous Peoples, the issue of Chinese Landing, Region One (Barima-Waini) has, once again, risen into the public interest. In a letter to the media, Chairman of the Parika/Mora Small Miners Association, Arthur Thorne, called on the GGMC to enforce the rightful ownership of the land in question at Tassawini Backdam, Chinese Landing, which belongs to Wayne Vieira.
The matter, Thorne said, was even settled at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Guyana’s highest court. “While the case was winding its way through the courts, a person or persons unknown raided the land and extracted reputedly thousands of ounces of gold from it. Neither Viera [sic] nor the GGMC received one cent in royalties which was hugely unfair to Viera [sic] considering all the monies he had spent to acquire and develop the property for mining and the monies he was made to spend in court,” he bemoaned.
Mining operations and indigenous communities share space in Guyana’s hinterland, and there is no concealing that there have been disagreements in the past between mining operators and indigenous communities. Government has, consistently, ensured that these matters are treated with, even institutionalising social pressure valve mechanisms into law. The legislature, concomitantly, has given the court, as a course of action to all parties, the power to deal with these competing interests. These laws include the Mining Act and the Amerindian Act.
Approximately 30,000 Guyanese, from hinterland and coastland communities, are employed in the mining sector, according to Minister Bharrat recently. Some 40,000 persons indirectly benefit from the mining sector. Solutions for conflicts between mining operators and indigenous communities must be to the benefit of all involved. As former Local Government and Regional Development Minister and former Adviser at the Amerindian Affairs Minister, Norman Whittaker noted in a letter carried by this newspaper: “Yes, there are social and economic issues associated with mining activities across Guyana. And while we must address these issues /concerns, the social costs must be weighed against the opportunity costs.”
Former President and former Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, also wrote to the media on this matter, fittingly noting: “With all protections in place, a win-win solution is a possibility if mutual respect could be attained and retained. President Ali’s proclamation of, and urging the development of a sense and reality of “One Guyana”, within what many sense as “One World”, would be a good starting point. History is full of wrongs that could not practically be righted today.
“Mutual understanding, respect and reasonable accommodation [are] what is called for and possible now. The case could be made that all Guyana was Amerindian, just as all the Americas were held by the Indigenous peoples. We must go forward. We can hustle forward under a banner of “One Guyana” a part of “One World”.” There is no denying that government holds to heart the best interest of Guyana’s first people, as was echoed by the newly-elected Chairman of the National Toshaos Council, Derrick John of Moraikobai. These issues, however, are complex and require calculated action that is mutually respectful and beneficial to all involved, as noted by former President Hinds.