CCJ sanctions GGMC for ‘unfair’ and ‘unlawful’ doling out of mining lands

Jun 18, 2022 News

– Found commission had lied to quarry operator about availability of mines

Kaieteur News – An ongoing court battle between the Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and local quarry operator, Diamond Quarry Inc. came to an end this week with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ordering GGMC to grant licence to the operator exclusively mine in an area, it previously said had already been allocated.

GGMC Commissioner General, Newell Dennison.

Obviously, GGMC lied about the availability of mining pits as the CCJ uncovered that the reason for withholding the licence for Diamond Quarry Inc. could not be proven. Instead, the Court found that GGMC acted unfairly and unlawfully in the distributions of the plots.
As such, Guyana’s Trinidad-based Apex Court dismissed the appeal that which GGMC brought against the operator and ordered the Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Newell Dennison to grant a quarry licence to the respondent, Diamond Quarry known locally as ‘Diamond’ for which the company had applied since 2014.
As part of the judgment delivered on Thursday GGMC is also required to pay Diamond’s legal fees.
The matter began on 28 March 2014, when Diamond applied to the GGMC for a quarry licence for 848 acres of land in the interior of Guyana known as ‘Monkey Jump’. Diamond had done the necessary research to ensure that the land was not legally held nor applied for by anyone.
On September 15, 2014, GGMC issued a cease-work order against Baracara Quarries Inc. called ‘Baracara’, because it was occupying a portion of Monkey Jump that Diamond had applied for. GGMC then published a Notice of Intention in the Official Gazette to grant a quarry licence to Diamond to which no one objected. GGMC assured Diamond that it would be granted the licence as soon as all the statutory documentation was submitted and verified.

An overhead shot of a local quarry mining site.

These documents were submitted and GGMC told Diamond that its application had been ‘favourably considered.’
However, despite these assurances, GGMC, at a meeting on February 10, 2015, stated that many years earlier, Baracara had applied for the same land for which Diamond had applied and that the land would be divided between the two quarry companies.
Diamond approached the High Court of Guyana alleging that GGMC’s decision to subdivide the land was grossly unfair and based on favouritism. The court agreed and ordered GGMC to quash the decision to subdivide the land; grant the licence to Diamond; and not grant a licence to the land to anyone else. GGMC appealed to the Court of Appeal which also allowed evidence from Baracara.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and affirmed the orders of the High Court except that it sent Diamond’s application back to be considered by the GGMC. Baracara did not appeal this decision, but GGMC asked the CCJ to reverse the Court of Appeal.
In the judgment handed down on Friday, the CCJ found that the land for which Diamond had applied had not been applied for by anyone else, but that GGMC had nonetheless decided to subdivide the land between Diamond and Baracara.
The Court considered that this was unfair and unlawful because the GGMC had created a legitimate expectation that it would grant the licence to Diamond and had not presented any compelling public interest for not doing so. In the circumstances, the Court considered that it was appropriate to restore the order of the High Court and to require the GGMC to issue the quarry licence to Diamond. The GGMC was also required to pay the costs of the appeal.
The case was heard by Justice Adrian Saunders, President of the CCJ and Justices Jacob Wit, Winston Anderson, Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, and Andrew Burgess also formed the panel. Justice Winston Anderson delivered the judgment.
Attorneys, Hari Ramkarran SC and Mr. Kamal Ramkarran appeared for the appellant GGMC, while Mr. Edward Luckhoo SC, Mr. Timothy Jonas SC, and Ms. Eleanor Luckhoo appeared for the first respondent Diamond Quarry Inc.

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