In 2015, former Manager at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Jimmy Reece was ousted from his position when the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government entered office.
The former Manager of the Geological Services Division has now returned, this time as Chairman of the GGMC Board. According to a gazette notice dated September 28, Reece will now be the Chairman of the Board, which will be in effect for one year from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021.
GGMC Chairman, Jimmy Reece
Reece was one of several causalities by the then Board, which carried out a vote of no confidence against him in 2015. Another casualty was then GGMC Commissioner Rickford Vieira. While Vieira was eventually dismissed, Reece was transferred.
Another well-known figure on the GGMC Board is former Deputy Solicitor General Pritima Kissoon. Kissoon, who was working out of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, was sent on administrative leave in 2017 at the instigation of the former APNU/AFC Government.
She then took them to court over the withholding of her salary. Last year, Chief Justice Roxane George ruled against the former Government, finding that by withholding her salary, the then Administration deprived her of her fundamental rights.
The Board also includes GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison; former Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Retired Major General Norman McLean; Kristen Chand Singh; Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) representatives Azeem Baksh and Dabria Marcus.
Also on the Board are Guyana Women Miners Association (GWMA) representative Urica Primus, Ministry of Labour representative and Permanent Secretary Bishram Kuppen, Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) representative Rawle Lewis, Guyana Gold Board representative Eondrene Thompson, Workers’ representative Vickram Manoo, Evan Persaud and Azad Abrahim.
The Board is also expected to include in its membership representatives from the National Toshaos Council (NTC), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF), as well as GGMC’s Legal Advisor, as ex officio members.
At present, Guyana’s gold sector is in uncertain waters. While gold mining grew by three per cent, as was announced during Public Works Minister Juan Edghill’s presentation of the budget last month, Guyana’s largest gold producers (Aurora Gold Mine and Troy Resources) recorded lower production.
Aurora itself has recently changed ownership, with its former Canadian managers Guyana Goldfields selling the operation to Chinese mining company Zijin Mining Group. At present, operations at the gold mine are in a start-up phase, after being in care and maintenance for an extended period.
Just before the budget was presented, President Dr Irfaan Ali had announced that according to current estimates, the mining sector is at a 65 per cent productive capacity, owing to many miners downing tools and parking their equipment due to poor rates of return.
The Government has taken steps to address this. Making good on an issue it campaigned on and criticised the former APNU/AFC Government for, the President Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government has rolled back the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) and duties on mining equipment. In addition to the removal of VAT, Government will be granting tax concessions on All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) for persons who use them in the productive sectors.
The Government has also rolled back various requirements that related to the licensing of equipment and the transportation of fuel, in an effort to ease the red tape in the industry. These measures do not include the Government’s planned hinterland infrastructural development.
