Scrap metal trade ban lifted temporarily – Gaskin

The export of scrap metal will again resume for yet another limited period, or periods in this case, until legislation to govern the sector is passed.
This was disclosed by Gaskin on Friday when questioned by this newspaper. According to him, he hopes to have the trade resumed for another limited period before the year ends, should the bill for the sector not be tabled in Parliament before December.
“I know that we will try to do another limited resumption, and I think that will be how we will go ahead with it ‘till such time as the legislation is passed. We will assess the last limited resumption — I do have a report which I haven’t completely examined as yet — and once there are no red flags and there are no problems, we can do it again for another three months; and unfortunately, until the legislation is passed, we will have to intermittently do it,” he said.
The Minister clarified that the limited resumption periods should not be “a big problem”, since they would allow for all of the piled scrap metal to be shifted off.
It was informed by him that during the last period of limited resumption, held earlier this year, the Ministry was able to test-run its software system which was implemented to monitor the sector.
As a result of the new system, he noted, the Ministry was able to pinpoint a few flaws, which can be addressed easily.
Gaskin reported that he was certain that a large quantity of scrap metal was exported during that period, while he was unable to specify how much.
Government had approved a restart of the scrap metal trade in Guyana during February 2017, after closing down the industry one year prior to that.
The main reason for this was to allow exporters to ship out the existing stock for a limited period of three months, and ensure that there was no stockpile of the materials.
However, in April 2018, after several months of delay, Government had decided to reopen the scrap metal trade on a limited basis to facilitate the clearing of some of the scrap metal accumulated across the country.
At a previous meeting, Gaskin had said that resumption of the trade would give the MoB an opportunity to test the system to ensure that it works, and also to help clear some of the accumulated scrap metal that had been legitimately acquired.
The scrap metal trade was suspended in June 15, 2015 after a forensic audit was done by the Scrap Metal Unit (SMU), which monitors the trade.
Government approved a restart of the scrap metal trade during February 2017, after shuttering the industry one year prior. The main reason for this restart was to allow exporters to ship out their existing stock for a limited period of three months, thereby ensuring there was no stockpile of materials.
However, in April 2018, after several months of delays and much criticism, Government was pressured to reopen the scrap metal trade on a limited basis to facilitate the clearing of some of the scrap metal accumulated across the country.