Gov’t to assist flood-affected miners, loggers in Reg. One
Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Vickram Bharrat has assured flood-affected residents of Region One (Barima-Waini) of the Government’s commitment to ensuring their lives return to normalcy.
The Minister met with residents, miners and loggers at the Mabaruma Primary School at the weekend.
“We know the recent devastation from the flooding would have affected the logging activities and the mining activities, as well as agriculture. But we as a Government, we have been doing an assessment over the last few weeks.”
President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has been leading members of his Cabinet and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) on flood relief outreaches across the country to assess the damage, and distribute hampers and other relief.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) conducted assessments in the most affected regions and will prepare a comprehensive report of the disaster.
“We will contribute to returning our people to some form of normalcy, so that you can go back to your farmland and to your operations,” Minister Bharrat said.
Meanwhile, the Minister said the Government will not forsake the mining and logging sectors for oil.
“We will work to continue to incentivise these traditional sectors, because I know a lot of people are worried that now that Guyana is an oil producing nation, that we will forsake forestry or mining or quarrying or manganese. The answer to that is ‘no, we will not’.
As a Government, we are committed to ensuring that the traditional sectors receive the necessary incentives to ensure that we grow those sectors from strength to strength, and that oil and gas can be a supplement.”
The Minister said Government has already provided incentives such as the removal of Value Added Tax, and urged residents to work with the Government to provide an environment where the sectors could thrive.
Minister of Housing and Water, Hon. Collin Croal; Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Robeson Benn; and Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Hon. Deodat Indar also attended the meeting.