Miners worried over incentives, consultations

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56520647
Stabroek News

Monday, May 21st 2007

Incentives for miners and the making of decisions concerning the industry without consultations were the major concerns raised when the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) held a members meeting last Friday. Declaring that the industry was in "confusion" as to why incentives were not granted to miners, Executive Director of the GGDMA, Edward Shields stated that after continuous lobbying it was hoped that certain incentives would be granted soon. Furthermore, he added that the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) had raised problems for the industry and said of certain agreements that had been signed "a year has not yet passed and we run into VAT". He also declared that a number of agreements that had been made regarding the tax were not honoured and the Guyana Revenue Authority was being engaged on this. However, Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) William Woolford informed the miners that several agreements had not been sent to the ministry and work was now being done to clear the backlog. Shields also informed the gathering that the association had written President Bharrat Jagdeo four times but he had not agreed to meet with the association. He said that certain miners had access to the president and questioned why he did not want to meet with the association. Another point raised was the making of decisions involving mining without the miners being consulted. Shields stated that the association was concerned that the "stakeholders are never part of negotiations" declaring that "we can avoid a lot of problems if we are part of discussions". Proclaiming that there was no natural justice when millions of dollars had been invested and "then one day we get a letter to move off", he complained that when discussions are held the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Government, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others were involved but "we the major stakeholders are not part of the discussions". Meanwhile, the relationship between miners and local Amerindian communities was brought to the fore at the meeting with Shields declaring that "at this time, in the interior is very tense". He declared that in certain areas Amerindians were "putting off coastlanders" and "putting in Brazilians" to work, some of whom don't even have a permit and questioned how it is that mining was taking place on Amerindian titled land. In a vocal session, one miner declared the Amerindian Act "unconstitutional" arguing that it should be done away with, while another stated that "as miners we do not feel it is right that small communities should benefit so vastly from the resources of the country". Others questioned how scientific is the granting of titles while others asked "Who is there for us?" Shields stated that the association had never been granted an audience with the Minister of Amerindian Affairs with one miner declaring that it seems that the said ministry seems to be leading the way in discussions involving the industry. However, another stated that it was because the Amerindians were getting representation while one added that they should fight for same. Some spoke of receiving letters from local communities stating that they would not be allowed to continue mining in the area. Woolford in addressing some concerns urged miners to enter into agreements with the local communities stating that with the growth of titled Amerindian areas some claims had been overtaken making it necessary for the miners to enter into agreements with the communities. He also advocated the use of "alternative dispute resolution, a mining ombudsman" to try to resolve disputes declaring that it was "a learning curve for all of us". The miners also spoke of the need for demarcation of the area being mined especially by the large-scale miners as this sometimes creates problems as regards the boundaries of the claim.