LINDEN: Raphael Trotman, Minister of Natural Resources, on Tuesday gave an undertaking to convening a committee to examine the state of bauxite mining in Guyana and the future of the industry on this the centennial year of bauxite mining in Guyana.
The Minister made the commitment during a visit to the Mining Town where he met with the Regional Chairman of Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Region 10 Pastor Renis Morian and other councillors where many issues were discussed, chief among them the state of bauxite mining.
The meeting, which lasted for one hour and thirty minutes, saw members of the Linden community making representation to the Minister for a number of interventions to do with toll collecting, the use of Government sanctioned fines in the community, the Sovereign Wealth Fund, the establishing of a Guyana Geology and Mines and Guyana Gold Board presence in Linden, land reclamation, opening up of lands for future bauxite mining, the need for greater scrutiny on Bosai, dust emissions from Bosai and others. Following the meeting with the Chairman and members of the RDC, the Minister and team visited the operations of Bosai Minerals Inc., where officials of the company walked the team through the operations. Minister made the observation that the state of the Bosai Minerals Inc. compound left much to be desired and asked that the management of the company urgently address the materials and other items strewn all over the compound. The Minister however lauded Bosai Minerals for being proactive on granting their workers tax free overtime pay but warned the company not to overload the workers with additional work more than what is humanly possible. Trotman also urged that the company adhere to all health and safety regulations. The management of Bosai Minerals raised a number of issues including taxes to be paid. Trotman promised to raise the issue with Winston Jordan, the Minister of Finance. Minister Trotman and team also visited two sawmilling operations on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway and two Guyana Forestry Commission stations – at Kara Kara and at Soesdyke.
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