The Federation of Mining Operators of Guyana (FedomG) participated in a meeting on Wednesday with the prefectural services and the ONF. The meeting follows two strike operations carried out by the miners.
After two raids in front of the Labor Directorate and then in front of the National Forestry Office (ONF) site, last week, members of the FedomG participated in a meeting with the prefecture services and the ONF Wednesday morning. They presented specifications bringing together the different issues facing the profession. Among these, the reduction in the areas concerned by AEX (mining authorizations) or the emergency allocation plan for areas formerly illegally exploited.
“There are a lot of projects that are blocked,” regrets Alexandre Briand, interim president of FedomG. There are many rules that we find absolutely not suitable for Guyana. »
During the meeting, the miners provided the ONF with a list of demands. “We have indicated what we believe must change in the very short term to resume our activities in a sustainable manner,” continues Alexandre Briand. The director of the ONF showed us a map and explained precisely what their territorial planning consisted of. We had a misunderstanding on this. The ONF sets up series: SIE (Series of ecological interest) and SPPGM (Series of physical and general protection of environments (SPPGM). Most of these series prevent us, de facto, from working since they are found in areas with mining potential, we are not entitled to make mining applications.
The miners, during their meeting with state services, requested the temporary freezing of these series. “The prefecture and the ONF have committed to postponing the commission this year to allow us to work on these series,” indicates the acting president of the FedomG.
Second subject of concern: “the emergency installation procedure launched by the President of the Republic during his visit in March. So far we have not yet received any feedback. We talked about it again, we understood what the blockages were and we expect concrete results very soon. This meeting was positive: the prefecture promises us implementation procedures by the end of the year.”
Another subject of discussion: the request from miners to develop authorizations for primary exploitation, that is to say in the rock.
