Natural Resources Ministry awaits further tests on suspected mercury-related deaths

Jun 04, 2018 News

In the face of continued safety concerns, the Guyana Government is not swayed into believing that the deaths of four workers attached to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) are mercury-related.

Minister of Natural Resources,
Raphael Trotman

The four workers died over a six-month period. The majority of the staff at that entity believe that these deaths can be linked to the high levels of mercury emission that pollute the GGMC compound and its environs.
The Ministry of Natural Resources said that no official or formal report of this matter has been received about the deaths being mercury related.
“The Ministry of Natural Resources will await a report to this effect from the GGMC and will again engage the workers about any grievances that may exist,” the Ministry stated.
Workers are not taking the Government’s word this time, given that there was no public announcement when workers were found with elevated levels of mercury in their blood. However, after media reports, GGMC admitted the incident.
Workers complained that despite many of them being in danger, the matter was not being treated with urgency.
On the deaths, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) also believes that they are mercury related. The party has expressed “profound concern at the untimely deaths”.
Of four Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) staffers – Mr. Dwayne De Jonge (ranger), Mr. Latchman Chiti (surveyor), Mr. Leroy Green (carpenter) and Mr. Clement Proffit (lab technician).
“The deaths of these staffers, who were documented to have been affected by mercury poisoning, make it clear that every effort must be made to ensure that working conditions are safe.”
The party said that the deaths over “a short period of time,” should be a cause for serious concern.
This newspaper had contacted sources at GGMC who said that De Jonge, Chiti and Green are “almost confirmed” to be victims of mercury pollution. De Jonge died last month; Latchman died last week; Green died earlier in the year and Proffit died a few days ago.
Green was the first to die this year. He died in January of kidney failure. That complication is believed to have been associated with high exposure to mercury.
The Government remains firm that there is simply no existing empirical data, which established that mercury is responsible for the deaths of miners and GGMC workers in recent times.
However, the Ministry of Natural Resources stated that efforts are already in train to establish scientifically whether there is such a link.
“No effort and no expense will be spared in pursuit of the truth and the protection of the workers,” the Ministry noted.
The Ministry explained that GGMC is a decades old institution and so too the use of mercury in mining, which has straddled several political administrations.
According to the Ministry, miners and workers of the GGMC and the Guyana Gold Board have for many years been exposed to mercury at various levels and times both in the hinterland and in the city because of its widespread use in the amalgamation of gold.

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