Guyana is likely to explore collaborations in the mining industry with Australia in the future. This was among many of the items up for discussion during a bilateral visit to the country by Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles.
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles
Briefing the local media at the Pegasus hotel, Marles said the trip is aimed at building upon the ground relationship Australia has with the Caribbean region, which is based upon a Memorandum of Understanding with Caricom that has been in existence since 2009. Through the MoU, Gy$ 60 million is provided to the region for a Development Assistant Programme.
Marles met with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues- Birkett and Secretary General of Caricom Irwin LaRocque. Marles commended Guyana for “taking admirable steps to address climate change” through the Low Carbon Development Strategy.
Marles also commended Guyana’s strategy to make sustainable use of its natural resources, “particularly in the preservation of 99.5 per cent of its rainforest”.
Underlining the fact that Australia is a country whose economy is significantly based on mining, Marles stated that for Guyana to develop this area of virgin economic growth, a balance must be struck between the environment and its people. “I think one of the challenges in developing a modern mining industry… is to have a mining industry which is environmentally responsible and sensitive but also a mining industry which is socially responsible and sensitive,” Marles noted.
Like Guyana, Australia has its mineral resources in places where there are indigenous communities and Marles said that it is important to have “appropriate relations” in place between the mining interests and the local communities.
Meantime, Marles said there is indeed some Australian interest in the mineral exploration in Guyana. Australia, he pointed out, has a particular expertise in relation to mining, “I think one of the things that came out of the conversations we had was the possibility for future collaboration between our mining industry and Guyana in terms of mineral exploitation.” Marles’ visit to Guyana forms part of a visit to the broader Caribbean Region.
