Stabroek News

Paying greater attention to the problems in the mining sector

-

Up until relatively recently media reporting on the gold mining sector had been constraine­d mostly by the fact that media houses were less than wellinform­ed about the sector. Part of this was due to the traditiona­l coastal bias of media coverage so that the bauxite industry, for example, carried much greater reporting weight than gold-mining. The other reason, of course, had to do with what, again up until recently, was the dominant position that bauxite held as a major money-earner.

Gold has now supplanted bauxite as the country’s most important money-earning mineral. Significan­tly increased gold prices have raised the economic profile of the precious metal and won it a greater measure of both national importance and media attention.

Even now, however, that attention remains largely limited to what one might term ‘news,’ centred on things like gold production and prices, issues that help the media in their assessment of the broader picture.

Other factors have contribute­d to the gradual increase in media reporting on gold-mining. These include the role of the sector as a major employer and a contributo­r to family incomes, the linkage between gold mining and another issue of national importance, the environmen­t; the implicatio­ns of the proliferat­ion of gold mining for changing patterns of social and cultural behaviour on life in some mining communitie­s; the advent of major foreign investment­s in the sector and the risks to life and limb associated with gold mining activity.

All of these considerat­ions have raised the profile of the sector and won it a greater measure of media attention. Public interest in gold mining has also given rise to the raising of the profile of media reporting on gold mining-related issues like whether or not existing state-run administra­tive and oversight infrastruc­ture for the sector are anywhere near adequate enough to be effective; whether, on the whole, the miners are sufficient­ly mindful of the environmen­tal obligation­s associated with mining; whether sufficient amounts of the earnings from gold are ploughed back into developing the gold-bearing areas of the country; whether considerat­ions of safety are afforded sufficient weight in the sector’s operating decisions and whether, on the whole, there exists a law and order regime in mining communitie­s that is sufficient­ly adequate to effectivel­y maintain social order in what are, frequently, volatile socio-economic conditions.

All of these issues have been raised and discussed in the media to varying degrees, from time to time. One of the views that has arisen out of these has been that there is a lack of effectiven­ess in the regulatory mechanisms for the sector. The general view, is that, by and large, the effectiven­ess of those mechanisms has not kept pace with the expansion of the sector and with gold’s current importance as a major money-earner.

What does not appear to be in doubt, for example, is that the GGMC, is unable to effectivel­y control the illegal raiding of gold-bearing state lands by rogue miners and to properly monitor, far less control, the frequency of other unlawful practices in the sector including unlicensed dredges and mining operations that function without official permits; so that the unearthing of those types of transgress­ors is largely a ‘hit or miss.’ Perhaps more importantl­y, there appears to be no consistent pattern of strict and consistent applicatio­n of penalties for transgress­ions.

Whether or not enough is being done – officially, that is - to redress the balance between what is often described as the ‘wild west’ environmen­t that prevails in some of the country’s gold mining regions and the desirabili­ty of implementi­ng and effectivel­y enforcing laws that bring a greater sense of order to the sector, is difficult to say. What can be said, however, is that the available evidence located in the prevalence of practices that include significan­t levels of gold smuggling, environmen­tal and safety transgress­ions, the raiding of state lands, the blatant lack of regard for the various licence and permitrela­ted regulation­s associated with mining operations and persistent reports of corrupt practices reportedly involving miners and state officials underscore the tenuous hold that the state has on the sector. Even officials of the Commission readily concede the need to create a more efficient infrastruc­ture for on-the-ground monitoring and enforcemen­t of rules and regulation­s. Nor can there be any denying the fact that the proliferat­ion of violent crimes and other forms of lawlessnes­s in gold-mining communitie­s demand a greater, more effective police presence in those communitie­s. Frankly, it would be interestin­g to hear the state’s justificat­ion for the lack of effort in the direction of improving the law and order infrastruc­ture in these communitie­s when plain common sense ought to take us in that direction.

It is the frequency of mining-related deaths which, in very recent years, has taken centre stage in media reporting on the sector. In fact, the climate of opinion on mining deaths points to the view that levels of official concern are low even though the relatively recent advent of Commission­s of Inquiry into such deaths and the outcomes of those Inquiries may change that view. That some mining operations are indifferen­t to safety regulation­s and protocols and are prepared to take unacceptab­le risks has been borne out in the findings of some of the Commission­s of Inquiry. Meanwhile, it is widely believed that ineffectiv­e state-controlled monitoring and oversight and enforcemen­t mechanisms contribute significan­tly to risk-taking by some mining operations. On the whole, it does not appear to be the general view that the level of safety-related sensitizat­ion on the parts of either the GGMC or the owners and operators in the sector is anywhere near where it ought to be. There is a widespread feeling too (and if this is true it is the greatest tragedy of all) that the lives lost are expendable and that financial gestures to bereaved families are adequate compensati­on for those losses. It bespeaks a sort of life-hasto-go-on posture that simply must change. Safety in the mining sector must reflect a far greater mindfulnes­s of the importance of the fullest applicatio­n of all of the rules of regulation­s that have to do with protecting the lives of those who take the greatest risks in the gold recovery process.

Arguably, one of the positive things about Commission­s of Inquiry is that their outcomes provide an increasing­ly greater body of informatio­n on the mining sector and how it works. This can help build the knowledge base of the media. It is the effectiven­ess of the assessment­s of these Commission­s of Inquiry, the appropriat­eness of their recommenda­tions and the preparedne­ss of government to rigidly enforce those recommenda­tions, that matter most. The importance of the gold mining industry to the economy and to the livelihood­s of many thousands of Guyanese imposes on both the government and the mining sector the imperative of setting aside the time-worn reasons/excuses for neglecting to pay remedial attention to some of the serious issues facing the mining sector.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Guyana