Way paved for national mining syndicate body to be elected

Mar 07, 2017 News

The establishment of a national mining syndicate body is steaming ahead, with several groups participating in a sensitisation meeting on the benefits of the project.

Head of the Karrau Mining Syndicate, Judith David-Blair

The meeting which was held at the Square of the Revolution, Vlissengen Road, served to highlight how small miners can benefit from the initiative, representative and head of the Karrau Mining Syndicate, Judith David-Blair, is quoted as saying in a Government statement.
“This is a meeting of saying what it is that we are going after, and that is lands for small miners to work, and bringing people together so we can move forward,” David-Blair noted.
All 10 established mining syndicates were represented at the meeting which is expected to be the first in a series aimed at dispelling misinformation on the syndicate project, the statement said.
The response to the syndicate project has been overwhelming, Renwick Solomon, head of the 14 Mile Issano Mining Syndicate, disclosed.
“More and more people are being sensitised about the syndicates. More and more people are coming on board, people are asking questions, and we’re having nothing but positive feedback from the nation as a whole,” Solomon said.
Meanwhile, the syndicates initiated the establishment of the national syndicate body at yesterday’s meeting. “There will be a national executive body that will be representing all the syndicates in the event we are called to represent them,” David-Blair explained.
Solomon added that the existing syndicates will be voting on the executive of the national body soon. “The consensus is there to form the body, but we still have to get the nominees and so on together to get it forward,” Solomon explained.
The syndicate project was introduced by the government as a means of providing access to lands and concessions for small miners who had complained that, even with land, getting their operation off the ground alone was often times difficult.
To date there are 10 syndicates: Karrau, 14 Mile Issano, Issano, Imbaimadai, Mahdia Central, Konawaruk, Parika/Mora, Albouystown, Berbice and Puruni.
There are two mining advocacy bodies- the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) and the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation (GMWO) – but the former has been accused of not really representing small miners, a charge that was denied.
The syndicates have committed to fight landlordism, help to access more mining lands and raise concerns of small miners.