[www.inewsguyana.com] – As part of the mining week celebrations, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Robert Persaud held an outreach on Wednesday, August 27 with miners in Port Kaituma, Region One where he urged that they do not give up on agriculture.
The Minster told small scale miners to think like large scale miners and maintain or begin to develop an interest in other activities as a second source of income in the event gold prices are negatively affected.
“If the large scale miners can have their mining activities and still maintain interest in agriculture, then you can too. You can’t allow what happens in the United States to affect your livelihood when the gold prices drop; you must have something to fall back on,” the Minster said.
He reminded that mineral resources are non renewable and thus the proceeds from these resources need to be invested in areas that will be of benefit to the new generation.
When miners complained of having acquired mining equipment and not being able to acquire lots, he advised them to “not put the cart before the horse,” but rather to ensure they acquire mining lots before purchasing equipment.
Some of the miners were not in favour of the mining lotteries, but Minister Persaud said these are effective as they allow adequate and fair distribution of mining lots.
Region One Chairman, Paul Pierre said that as part of the initiative to wisely invest proceeds gained from mining, schools in Port Kaituma now have 70% qualified teachers at present.
He said that at this year’s Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams, students’ performance was outstanding, with one student receiving 11 distinctions.
He added that the construction of a new hospital in Port Kaituma is underway that will serve that community, Mathews Ridge and other areas.
[Extracted and modified from GINA]
