Honourable Vickram Bharrat Member of Parliament, stood in his capacity as Minister of Natural Resources to further affirm the projected budget and stated that the “future looks bright” and this year’s budget is “continuing the foundation for a new and modern Guyana”. He boasted of the prospective 45.5% increase in Oil Production throughout the year.
In defense of the drastic decline in production and exportation of gold and other natural resources, he stated that the decline first began in 2017 and cited several contributing factors. These included high unemployment rates in the mining sector causing a severe labour shortage, unfavourable weather conditions, flooding in the years 2021 and 2022 and droughts in 2023, and inaccessible resources.
Minister Bharrat detailed his Ministry’s and by extension the government’s plan to revitalize the Gold Industry. In so doing, he posited that there will be new ways to help small and medium-scale gold miners as the 2024 budget allocates 400 million Guyana Dollars to a Mining Surveying Initiative. This survey will pave the way for mining inventory, verifying mining districts, and add a further layer of protection for the nation’s coveted forests.
According to Bharrat, measures are in place to regularize mining in indigenous communities. Moreover, 82 small Guyanese miners’ claims in mining regions were regularized. The majority of these miners have started mining activities.