Govt contemplating measures to ensure North West miners comply with law

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56527194

Govt contemplating measures to ensure North West miners comply with law
Stabroek News,
Monday, August 20th 2007

Government is contemplating the implementation of stringent monitoring
and regulatory measures to ensure miners in the North West District are
complying with the laws, a Government Information Agency (GINA) news
release has stated.

The statement came following a visit to the Barama Company Limited and
several mining operations along the Essequibo River by Prime Minister
Samuel Hinds. The Prime Minister was accompanied by a team of officials
from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana
Forestry Commission, and several miners who camped along the road
leading to the head of the Waini River were visited. Barama has
established a road which gives access to popular locations such as
Imotai and Big Hope in the Waini River.

"This visit gave me a chance to see this road for myself. Currently it
is about 80 miles from here to the Waini and when Barama worked out of
Port Kaituma there were some roads coming in this direction. We are now
being told that just about 60 miles remain to close the gap between the
two points. Maybe in a year or two when this is complete, one would be
able to drive from Buck Hall to Port Kaituma in about 8 to 10 hours,"
Hinds was quoted as saying.

Possible arrangements in the event of negative consequences arising
from mining operations were also discussed, and according to Hinds, the
ultimate objective is to maintain cordial relations between miners and
the forestry sector so that there is no conflict. Among some of the
major concerns about mining in the area was the possibility of miners
breaching regulations by abusing the road through careless use of
equipment, particularly during the rainy season.

Meanwhile the statement said that officials of Barama signalled to the
Prime Minister their intention to stop further development of the road
to allow for the imposition of certain regulations that will formalize
mining operations in the area. These include compliance with the
environment bonds to avert problems such as bad sanitation, turbidity,
mercury contamination and the destruction of reserved property.

A similar campaign was recently taken with several miners in Region
Eight after they had been in the spotlight, following the destruction
of the main road linking Mahdia to Salbora.

"Barama has been one of Guyana's significant investors in boosting the
marketing capabilities of forestry products through their harvesting
and processing of timber," the statement said, adding that Hinds during
his tour of several operations conducted by Barama commended officials
for their efforts to provide the infrastructure that will create easy
access to key interior locations.

"Construction of access roads in the North West District, Region One by
Barama has resulted in the resurgence of gold and other forms of
mining. A significant number of residents from Linden have also been
working at the company," the release stated.