What is the fuss about?

Dec 16, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

I fail to understand just what is all the fuss that is being made about the Minister of Natural Resources and whether or not his Ministry or any of the many departments that fall under his responsibility was responsible for granting either surveying or prospecting licenses in an area east of New River Triangle.
The first salvo that was launched suggested that the Minister may have misled a meeting of Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources. When the transcript of the meeting was produced, it refuted the charges made against the Minister.
No longer able to show that the Minister misled the parliamentary committee, the attack was switched. The government was said to now be entertaining future prospecting of the area.
But what can be controversial about this? And what can be wrong about the government granting any licence, be it surveying or prospecting, to a foreign investor.
At first it seemed as if the criticisms were based on the fact that the area in question may have been sensitive, given Suriname’s claim to the New River Triangle.
It seemed as if those critical of the Minister may have been suggesting that given the claim by Suriname, it was ill- advised of the government to grant mining rights, be it for surveying or prospecting, in this area .
But why should this be a problem. After all, should Guyana not be free to exercise sovereignty over all its territory and thus free to attract investments in any part of Guyana?
Many years ago, Forbes Burnham had signed an agreement in which it pledged to de-militarize the New River Area. That agreement was honored in the breach because Guyana has always since had a military watch post in the area. There was never any agreement about not granting mining concessions in the area.
Now the criticisms have taken a new turn. The area in question is now being deemed one of the few remaining pristine forest areas in the country and is highly ecologically sensitive. What crap is that!
There are countless pristine forest areas in the country and far more ecologically sensitive areas in the country that areas east or contiguous to the New River.
Desmond Hoyte had set aside more than one million acres of land for ecological conservation. That is more than any other poor country has ever done for humanity and that is sufficient for a small nation like Guyana.
Guyana has long argued that mineral exploration is one of the sectors that it will be tapping to boost economic development.
There are a number of companies that have been granted rights for the drilling of oil. But precious minerals are expected to yield more royalties than oil and therefore Guyana has also been courting investments in precious minerals.
Manganese mining has once again taken off. The Iranians have also shown an interest in mining for precious metals. This interest immediately set off a series of criticisms and it is clear that the basis of these criticisms is not the mining but who is doing the mining.
It seems that amongst certain circles it is okay for the Americas and Canadians to come here and mine away our natural resources. But once the Iranians and now the Brazilians show an interest, all manner of criticisms are made.
It is okay for the American , Japanese and local fishing interests to take command of our fishing grounds but once China shows any interest the alarm bells begin to ring.
It is okay for western mining firms to approach the government, outline their plans and be granted mining permits. But for a firm from any other country to do the same, it attracts criticism of lack of transparency in the process.

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