Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 30, 2012 News
– Better interaction with miners expected
An Extension Service Unit geared at supporting, providing information and fostering a better working relationship with miners may be established within the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud made this disclosure on Friday during a ‘New Entrants Seminar’.
Addressing potential miners and miners, Persaud related that this new Unit that is being considered will add to GGMC’s responsibilities towards miners. He noted that GGMC should not only focus on the enforcement of regulations, but provide support and education.
Providing an insight into the functions of the Unit, Persaud indicated that Extension Officers would be tasked with visiting mining camps and interacting with miners. They would assist miners to correct certain deficiencies in their operations.
“So instead of us saying ‘I am going to write you down’, our Officers can spend a couple of hours or days and work with that miner and say ‘this is how you should arrange your sluice box’ or ‘this is how you should position your dredge’ or ‘this is what you can do better’,” he stated.
Persaud is optimistic that these interactions could make miners’ operations more efficient and possibly reduce the problem of low rate of recovery. He added that GGMC has different estimates of the rate of recovery ranging from 30 to 50 percent. This low rate of recovery is attributed to the lack of technology and training, among other factors.
While GGMC is pondering on the creation of this Unit, the Ministry plans to host more seminars to reach out to miners. The seminars will provide miners with information on regulations in the industry for sustainable mining. It is hoped that the knowledge gained would help to cultivate a culture of self-regulation in the sector.
“At the end of the day we do not want to see regulatory agency and staff as the big, bad guys, but rather all of us will have the level of understanding and collaboration as to rights and responsibilities.
“We must not have the situation whereby persons know what they are doing is not exactly expected of them, but would continue to do so until someone comes to either sanction them or issue a cease work order. All of us must know what our expectations are, even with or without the presence of regulator GGMC officers,” he added.
This will also call for a better relationship between stakeholders so that the mining sector would be devoid of suspicion. Efforts made by staff of GGMC to ensure compliance with regulations should be seen as beneficial to the industry. However, miners should operate in accordance with regulations so as to prevent interventions by GGMC, he emphasised.
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