Even if one is inclined to applaud what appears to be an effort on the part of the two critical stakeholders – the miners through their association and the government through the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) – to work together towards a mercury-free sector, it has to be said that the government displayed a good deal of dilatoriness in addressing this issue. More vigorous initiatives on the part of the government in the direction of actively seeking alternatives to mercury appeared to be decidedly lacking up to just a few years ago when the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), interestingly, largely through the work of the current GGMC Commissioner, Rickford Vieira, was pushing for the more vigorous pursuit of mercury-free mining methods. Vieira, if it is the desire of the government, can certainly be pressed into service in pursuit of a mercury-free future for the gold mining sector. His experience as an advocate of mercury-free mining during his tenure at with WWF is considerable.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/business/business-editorials/05/31/heralding-change-in-the-gold-mining-sector/
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