Opposition says Minister lied to

Parliamentary Committee

“Firm was only granted permission to survey”- Robert Persaud

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment is categorically refuting claims that its head, Minister Robert Persaud is selling out large portions of Guyana. But comments, views and “facts” coming from mining associations, miners and politicians support quite the opposite.

APNU’s Joseph Harmon

Unlike the silence that normally follows media exposures, the Ministry of Natural Resources yesterday sent out a release to debunk claims that Persaud leased over 2 million acres of land to a “Brazilian” company.  The land is located in the south east of New River and is an area where Persaud had told a Parliamentary Committee nothing is going on.
However, a letter stating that Persaud indeed granted Permission to a mining company—Muri Brazil Ventures Inc.—to survey the area, has surfaced from an anonymous source. That and other documents to “prove’ that “Guyana is being sold out”, were attached to a letter which called on President Donald Ramotar to take “serious” action.
The statement sent out yesterday read that the Ministry and its regulatory agency, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) want to restate that no mining permit/licence has been issued by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission for areas east of the New River.  It added that the records that surfaced are not secret.
The statement noted that a company’s expression of interest based on a public call for proposals was evaluated and it was granted Permission for Geological and Geographical Survey (PGGS) through the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to conduct Geological and Geophysical Surveys in the Rupununi, Mining District No. 6.
“Cognizance should be taken of the fact that the PGGS held by Muri Brazil Venture Inc., a Guyanese company, was done in keeping with the ISO Certified procedures. Additionally, it should be noted that a PGGS is a property exclusive to exploration and does not include any mining and/or profit-related activities. This is not related in any way to a Prospecting Licence, Mining Licence or Mining Permit, all of which are also done in keeping with the Mining Act and its Regulation.”
Just recently, relevant disclosures were made through various reporting mechanisms as the Ministry shared this information with the Guyana Human Rights Association and the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, both of whom recently met the Ministry and its agencies. The statement noted that Persaud has directed the GGMC to put online all the various permits and licences issued in the interest of transparency.

GWMO President, Simona Broomes

But members of the Opposition are of the view that the Minister should not be even granted permission to survey that area as other eventualities can result in an actual extension of the Brazilian borders. Opposition members have basically concluded that Persaud lied to the Committee of Natural Resources—the very committee the Ministry mentioned.
A Partnership for National Unity Parliamentarian, Joseph Harmon, had indeed questioned Persaud on the matter. Harmon told the media that based on the fact that Persaud told him that “nothing is going on in that area, he should now be made answerable for his signature that appeared on a document giving permission for survey.”
President of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), Patrick Harding told Kaieteur News that he “cannot comment” on the issue because he doesn’t know what is going on. Harding said that he read about the issue but doesn’t necessarily take what the media says as the truth.
However, President of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO), Simona Broomes, told this newspaper that she read about the issue in the news, and as the head of such an association, did her own investigation.
Broomes said that what has been revealed brings into focus the fact that things have really changed for the worse in the mining industry. She told Kaieteur News that lots of miners have bemoaned that fact that many times when they check the map at GGMC and request an area to work, they are told that it is a closed area.
“But it all of a sudden, becomes an open area to a large scale miner. Suddenly you will see a man come and get 40, 30 or 25 acres from that same closed area, while a small or medium scale miner can’t even get one block.”
Broomes said that only a few can get Prospecting Licences to do large scale mining, then those very people lease sections to small miners and “they become landlords… It is all a trick. Where does that leave the average miner? We are left at the mercy of the same ‘rapers’…then they say that the industry is developing… that is a lie. Small scale miners are now being used as touts to prospect for the big ones.”

Minister of Natural Resources, Robert Persaud

Broomes said that she is in a position to speak from experience as she had applied for one medium scale block and was told that it is on a closed area. “But all of a sudden it became open to someone else.”
Broomes said that it is all happening “through a special corruption formula…We need a level playing field.”
The miner told Kaieteur News that it is a “shameful season” where illegal mining is prevalent… “And when the Association points it out, members are questioned whether they are trying to act as mining police.”
However, Broomes noted that the GWMO finds it necessary to address certain issues… “because a mining officer can only talk to certain people, as in most cases when they do their jobs, higher authorities override it.”
Broomes said that she has always been accused of speaking the truth, as if it is something wrong, “but I will continue…everybody has a part to play all I’m asking is that we get to play ours. How a single company can get all that to prospect? It is almost like a takeover.
Broomes also called for the confirmation of the GGMC Commissioner, stating her view that that move can make a difference.