APNU/AFC Manifesto - an end to Gold and Diamond Mining in Guyana?

APNU/AFC Manifesto – an end to Gold and Diamond Mining in Guyana?

Feb 18, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

It was with great sadness I read and re-read the recently published APNU/AFC manifesto. I thoroughly scanned the document and counted only three mentions of the word Mining, no mention of Gold or Diamond. I could not believe what I was reading; the end of Gold and Diamond Mining in Guyana seems to have been laid out plainly for all to see.
Are miners completely ignored by the government? Have we become so obsessed with the oil that we have abandoned the industry that built Guyana? Mahdia, the recently commissioned town is built on mining but the future, based on this manifesto, does not look good.
More than 100,000 people benefit from mining in Guyana – truckers, welders, shops, bars etc, yet the government of the day has published a plan for the “development” of Guyana and completely ignores this sector, this is shocking!
As a miner what am I to do?
For the last few years the sector has become increasingly difficult to make a living in – the increased taxation, the additional VAT on equipment, the poor roads, increased fuel prices and lower world market prices for gold have not been very good to us.
When we look for hope we now see that we are going to be abandoned. The APNU/AFC manifesto mentions mining in the collective with other sectors, and the largest focus is on how to create and enforce more regulations and EPA rules on the oil and gas sector.
We have adopted a European standard of a green state in a country that still has pork-knockers. People who can barely make ends meet to feed their families via the only skill they know, mining, are now being told “close down we going green.”
I am calling on the mining associations and syndicates to speak up, they all seem to have lost their voices. I read recently that the mining association put out a manifesto, and that the new President of the Association, called for more attention to be placed on mining. What has happened to this?
I now ask miners to speak up on our behalf. What is going on in the mining sector? Can the mining associations reach the government and political parties to find out if there is a mistake? We cannot wash away our most productive sector so easily, what will happen to us miners? Is this the end of mining in Guyana? Guyana needs mining and miners need to work. Who is going to help revive our mining sector or are we going to go the way of sugar as we all hope to bathe in the oil wealth?
Yours cooperatively,
A. Daniels

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APNU/AFC Manifesto – an end to Gold and Diamond Mining in Guyana?

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