Miners want updated laws on front burner
Stabroek News
July 1, 2002
The Guyana Gold & Diamond Miners' Association is still "patiently" waiting for the mining act to be updated and it is appealing to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to put the issue on the front burner so that there will be one standard mining law which everyone could understand.
These were the words of the Executive Secretary of the association, Edward Shields, during the association's nineteenth Annual General Meeting (AGM) yesterday at the Georgetown Club.
He said it has been filtered down to him that the new laws will soon be implemented along with the restructuring of GGMC which has been an ongoing issue since 1993.
Shields said that he understands that both of these pertinent issues will be addressed soon and urged that the association, which according to him is the major stakeholder, be consulted before anything happens.
"Don't try to implement something that would not work when the people in the fields can tell you if something can work or not," Shields said, apparently directing his comments to Prime Minister Sam Hinds and Commissioner of the GGMC, Robeson Benn who were both present at the meeting.
Shields said that all miners should become members of the association as this would assist them tremendously, adding that some persons only become temporary members of the association when they are in need of assistance.
He said that "foreigners" come into the country and occupy a lot of land to engage in mining activities but yet they don't make any contribution to the association.
The executive secretary said that while he would not want it to be compulsory that they be members or make contributions to the association, they should be persuaded to support the local mining industry.
Shields was of the opinion that miners themselves are "cutting each other throats and not even taking time to sharpen their knives."
Explaining his statement, he gave the example of some miners doing all they can to stop another miner from acquiring more claims because they think that person might already have too much.
Yet, he noted, when persons come from overseas they are allowed to take up how many claims they need without any objection from the local miners.
The executive secretary also disclosed that there are quite a number of Brazilian miners who are members of the association. He pointed that the government has made a lot of strides in terms of regularising the Brazilians.
According to him, the association has no problems with the foreigners taking mining claims in Guyana once they adhere to the mining laws.
Shields feels that the Brazilians are being exploited when they apply for a work permit and this occurs because they are required to have a sponsor before the permit is granted.
He urged that government investigate the issue of tax payments by the Brazilians since according to him in most cases none of that money reaches the government.
President of the association, Stanislaus Jardine was very concerned about the conditions under which miners operate in the interior.
"Miners in the interior operate in a very dirty environment," he said. He pointed out that miners work in very overcrowded camps in unhygienic conditions and when persons get sick and they are allowed to stay they can "contaminate the area further."
He appealed to miners to develop better working environments adding that right now they "operate under low standards, very low."
The miners present were allowed to ask questions of Benn and the prime minister, who also spoke at the meeting on a variety of issues, and they in turn attempted to answer the questions.
One of the concerns raised by miners related to the presence of one designated mining officer in areas to deal with a variety of issues which according to them sometimes compromises certain issues. They also said because of this a number of allegations are made and "eyebrows" are raised.
Further some were concerned about the rapid increase of prostitution in the mining areas.
They asked the GGMC to address the issue and Benn said that they have been looking into the issue for sometime since prostitution is illegal in the country. He said in attempting to address the issue they sometimes hear that "people have calls of nature."