Save gold, save the country

Jan 11, 2015 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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The development of the hinterland is inextricably linked to the fate of the gold industry. This has been axiomatic for the past century and a quarter and will be so in the short- and middle-term future.  Challenges currently being experienced in the gold-mining industry have already started to have an impact on the national economy.
The hinterland – comprising mainly the Barima-Waini; Cuyuni-Mazaruni; Potaro-Siparuni; Rupununi and parts of the Pomeroon-Supenaam and East Berbice-Corentyne Regions – comprises over three-quarters of this country’s territory. Long unwatched land borders with Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname – extending nearly 2,500 km; vast unpatrolled open spaces; unmonitored airstrips and numberless rivers – have become corridors for illegal narcotics and firearms.
The population might be only about 100,000 but the potential wealth – in the form of gold mining – is inestimable. The gold-mining industry has been the country’s largest foreign currency earner for seven years with record-breaking production in 2013. A sharp drop in world price for gold in 2014 precipitated a fall in production, declarations and earnings and a rise in operating costs, causing the closure of several operations and the loss of hundreds of jobs.
There should be no doubt that the national economy could be significantly enhanced and the livelihood of hinterland residents and miners enriched if the industry is placed on a surer economic footing. This will require a more comprehensive and collaborative approach rather than confrontation and recrimination between the state and the miners.
The government’s abrasive attitude to the gold industry, when compared with its support and solicitude for the sugar and rice industries, is part of the problem.  There needs to be a fresh policy towards the industry that will place it on a level that is comparable with other sectors of the economy to attract governmental support.
Given the vast area in which gold-mining occurs, and the complex demographic, geographical, governmental, historical and political factors which impact on the industry, the new policy should be embodied in a comprehensive ‘Plan of Action’  that involves the major stakeholders.
The engagements between the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) have borne few, small fruit. There needs to a strategic Plan of Action for the Gold and Diamond Mining Industry in order to sustain employment, investment and development.
The rotten regional and local government system of governance is a major impediment to stability. The industry is spread over four huge administrative and geographical regions. Unfortunately, however, the four administrative centres which are the ‘seats’ of government for these regions – Mabaruma, Bartica, Mahdia and Lethem – are treated as little more than villages. They must be upgraded into townships with their own mayors and municipal councils in 2015. This would be a start to enabling them to provide for their local development needs – such as supplying regular electricity and pure water. Local government elections must also be held. Legitimate indigenous land rights claims must be resolved in order to avoid conflict.
The rotten system of governance is reflected also in the decaying, obsolete and inadequate hinterland infrastructure. For the economy to improve, the maintenance of aerodromes, roadways and bridges must also be improved. Frequent fatal aviation, riverine and road accidents, and delays and damage to vehicles on difficult roadways, all increase the risk and cost of mining operations in the hinterland.
The hinterland could be dangerous in some places. The headquarters of the Guyana Police Force’s hinterland (‘F’) division, which has law-enforcement and security responsibility for the four regions (i.e., Nos. 1, 7, 8 and 9), quite idiotically, is located in Eve Leary, Georgetown. In fact, it is the only police divisional headquarters that is not located in its area of responsibility. The headquarters must be removed to Bartica forthwith.  The Police Force does not possess the aircraft, vehicles, vessels, personnel and other resources to investigate crimes in the widely dispersed villages, logging camps and mines. Miners have been murdered and horrible vehicle accidents have taken the lives of dozens.
Bandits easily exploit the Force’s lack of resources and inability to effectively patrol the ‘bush’ in order to commit violent crimes. Robbery with violence is a frequent occurrence and it is easy for assailants to escape. Bandits pounce on miners in their camps or lie in wait in the bush along the roads and trails to ambush, rob and kill. At least one person is murdered somewhere in the hinterland every month. The Force, therefore, must be provided with adequate aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, communications equipment and river boats and additional personnel, to ensure more effective law-enforcement.
Public services must also be improved. The Ministry of Education must aim at providing better primary education for children and, the Ministry of Heath, better primary health care, especially to suppress vector-borne diseases such as malaria. The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security must also direct its efforts towards the reduction of the incidence of mining fatalities and trafficking in persons, especially, under-age girls.
Consideration needs to be given to the GGDMA’s proposal for the reduction of rental paid on mining properties, lowering royalty payments and the acquisition of equipment, fuel, vehicles and accessories. The GGDMA’s proposal for the implementation of waivers or reduced tariffs on fuel and selected imported equipment required by large-, small- and medium-scale miners in the sector deserves stronger governmental support.
The gold industry is too important to be allowed to decline and fail. The proposed ‘Plan of Action’ for the gold-mining industry must involve seven government ministries –  Amerindian Affairs; Health; Home Affairs; Labour and Human Services; Local Government and Regional Development; Natural Resources and the Environment and Public Works  – as well as significant stakeholders such as the GGDMA. It might not be an exaggeration to claim that to save the gold industry is to save the country.

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