Draft mining policy to address critical developmental challenges

Oct 07, 2018 News

Guyana’s mineral sector is pivotal as a major source of revenue and employment. It is also crucial to the country’s green development agenda.
It is on this background that the Government of Guyana has developed a draft comprehensive policy framework that will address developmental challenges in the industry. The framework is also available for public review and comment at: https://www.nre.gov.gy/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/National-Mineral-Sector-Policy-Framework-and-Actions-2019-2029.pdf)
The last document that can claim such status is the National Development Strategy (NDS) for 2001-2010. The NDS, which was launched in January 1997 and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Finance, involved 23 technical working groups with representation from the private sector, government agencies, non-government agencies, and the University of Guyana.
Chapter 32 of the NDS addressed mining policy and included recommendations on fiscal regime, institutional aspects, legislature changes, infrastructure development, and environmental issues. No policy document on mining has since encompassed such scope.
Apart from this absence for over 20 years, the Ministry of Natural Resources which released the draft document, said it recognizes that a demand exists at this time for a new and stronger consensus among stakeholders on the development challenges and goals in the mineral sector.
It said that some of these challenges relate to increased mining activity and to the country’s commitment to international conventions such as on global climate change, governance, environmental protection, and green development.
The Ministry also holds the view that the current endeavour to draft new policies and plans for the sector should not only update the key content areas of the NDS, but must also seek to emulate the consultative and participatory approach used in its drafting.
Overarching all these considerations is the government’s belief that the mineral sector must expand its role as one of the main drivers of the country’s sustainable development agenda.
Furthermore, the green paper spans a timeframe of 10 years, from 2019 to 2029. The Ministry noted that expectedly, in that span, the national and international landscape is likely to see changes. It said that these changes will inevitably impact the development of the mineral sector.
It said, too, that forecasting societal developments is difficult and error-prone. Nevertheless, it speculates that in the next decade, projected impacts on the sector will include: the Guyana economy remaining mineral-dependent, as measured by GDP, export earnings, foreign investment, and employment; the emergence and rapid development of the local petroleum sector, with the expectation that government revenue base and expenditure will increase exponentially; through greater government expenditure, accessibility to the hinterland by more and better roads and other transportation links; expanded investments in construction escalating demand for stones and sands; and the net depletion of the gold and diamond deposits being accessed by low-tech exploration and mining methods.

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