THE GOVERNMENT BACKS DOWN… AND LOOKS GOOD!

Feb 14, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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No better example is to be found of the ability of a government to cede ground without losing face than the retreat this past week by the government of Guyana in bowing to the pressure of gold miners.
It all came over as if the miners were misled. The President struck a defiant tone. However, the very day before the meeting the necessary steps had been taken to allow the government to back down from its original regulations and to cede to the demands of the miners, a key sector of the propertied class in Guyana.
The miners were not misled. They were not misled into believing that the government was interested in ending mining. They were not misled about the six months period.
They have been misguided and precipitate in rushing to protest action, but misled is not the right word at all. If the miners were misled, then what are we to make of the Prime Minister’s missive of December to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission? If the miners were misled then why did that missive not spell out that where miners are mining in an area where others hold timber rights, miners could still go ahead and mine 7 acres and within six months have to arrive at agreement with those with rights?
If it was always the intention of the government to allow seven acres to be initially mined until agreement was met with those holding timber rights, why then was it necessary to appoint a land use committee comprising representatives of the GGMC, GGDMA and the government?
Certainly when the miners would have approached the government with their concerns, then their fears could have been dispelled by simply pointing out that the miners would be allowed to continue to mine until agreement was reached for which there was a six-month period to do so.
When the miners asked the President to place the December missive to the miners on hold, why did he not simply inform them that there was no need to do so since they were mistaken about what the government intended? This would have avoided all the expenditure on yellow jerseys and the shutting down of Bartica for one day.
Just before that protest action took place, government officials including ministers had rushed to the mining town to assuage the concerns of miners. Why then were they so unsuccessful?
Why were they unable to convince the miners about this plan to allow mining of a limited area until agreement was reached?
Or was this seven acres proposal one of the agreements that emerged out of the land use committee and not part of the original instructions given to the GGMC? Why if there was a misunderstanding on the part of the small miners, did the government’s elaborate propaganda machinery not go to work to inform the miners that they were being misled?
And which is this small group of miners that met with the President just before the large caucus on Thursday? And why would the President want to meet with a small group on the very day he was meeting with the larger mining community?
Why would he want to do this? And why would a small group want to meet with the President outside of the meeting with their colleagues? Interesting!
As predicted by this column when the dispute first surfaced, the government would have conceded to the miners. The mining class is inserted into the propertied class in Guyana, even though all miners may not be part of that class. There are elements of the mining class that have influence as members of the local bourgeoisie.
The government, which is controlled by the propertied class in Guyana, does not wish to lose favour with any of the constituencies of this class, and thus will always be willing to compromise with that class.
This is why there was no need for the miners to go to such extraordinary means to force the government to compromise.
Also with elections around the corner, the government does not wish a highly resourced grouping such as the miners to be finding sympathy with the opposition. And so there would have always been a compromise.
The miners have got what they wanted. They have been able to ensure that mining is not stopped because of the need to comply with regulations to be implemented. They have been able to extend both the life and the representation on the land use committee. These are major victories for the mining community. But the battle is not over. The miners have to now fight to ensure that their future is tied to protocols rather than to any decision of any bureaucrat or government operative in the forestry commission.
They should seek a detailed protocol outlining the various steps which have to be taken in dealing with cases where mining takes place and where the consent of others, including the government, is required.
The task of resolving differences between miners and those with timber rights, as well as with the government, must not be left to any minister or bureaucrat in the forestry commission or agricultural ministry.
It must be guided by protocols which would provide a measure of predictability to miners rather than to the whims and fancies of any official. This is where the real fight will come and it is to this end that the mining community needs to remobilize their efforts.
Despite backing down, the government has also emerged with a victory. It has been able to show how one need not lose face when compromising. In fact, the government came out of this entire imbroglio looking good.
And this is a lesson that they should apply to political disputes in Guyana. Conceding ground to the opposition and other stakeholders does not make the government look bad. It makes them look good as was so visibly demonstrated in last Thursday’s meeting.
So why is it that we have to always be fighting in this country? Why can’t the government, as it did with miners, simply sit down and negotiate with the opposition parties and other stakeholders in this country so that we can move Guyana forward without the government losing face?

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