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MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
Guyana seeks Canada’s expertise in boosting mining, agriculture sectors – assistance with electoral reform also on table
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anada, with its technical expertise, has several companies either mining or preparing to mine gold in Guyana and as such, Government is looking to tap into Canada’s advancement to build local capacity in the extractive and other sectors. This was revealed by outgoing Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Her Excellency Lilian Chatterjee in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times. She noted Canada’s mining experience in Guyana and revealed that the Natural Resources Ministry has requested assistance from Canada. “We have Canadian gold mines here. Some of them are founding members of the Chamber. And the Ministry of Natural Resources has asked for Canada’s help in supporting training in mechanisation of the mining industry. They’re looking for us to help them in training of their labour force,” Chatterjee explained. Previously, Canada-based
noted that Canada has the expertise to help.
Electoral reform
Outgoing Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana HE Lilian Chatterjee
Guyana Goldfields had managed the operations at Aurora Gold Mine, one of the largest mining operations in Guyana. That was until Goldfields moved to downsize its operations in May 2020, after facing constraints from the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with other financial woes. The decision was also linked to the company’s transition to underground mining. After initially selling its operations to Silvercorp, another Canadian mining com-
pany, Chinese-owned Zijin Mining Group made a superior offer to Goldfields that Silvercorp failed to match within the stipulated time. As a result, Zijin was able to clinch the deal and complete the takeover in August. Canada’s potential help is not limited to mining, however, as the diplomat revealed that Canada’s assistance has also been requested in the forestry and agriculture sectors, each with their own unique challenges. And Chatterjee
Govt to give incentives... “The idea of a specialty hospital is still there. So, we are to see whether it will be a line of credit or a private participation. So, these are the things which we are working with the Ministry of Health at this time,” High Commissioner Srinivasa stated. The Indian diplomat explained that such a facility is needed in Guyana because it not only provides specialised care for patients but also increases the possibility of the country becoming a hub for medical tourism. “I think if Guyana gets that specialty hospital it will be an attractive hub for medical tourism. In fact, India has – people will deem it a bit humourous – we have a visa called medical tourism visa…it’s a medical tourism visa where people actually go to India for elective sur-
geries, treatments, consultations and do tourism also and then come back that’s why it is called medical tourism and people actually, you know, they go in droves from many countries across the world,” Dr Srinivasa had said. However, back in October, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony had revealed that there is significant local and foreign interest from the Private Sector in constructing specialty hospitals in Guyana. “We are very favourable to such investments [in a specialty hospital] and we’re hoping that we can start working with those Private Sector companies to start realising them. And if there are others who want to come in, we’ll be happy to review and offer advice and see how we can enable them to invest,” Dr Anthony has stated.
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At least one company, Cardiology Services Incorporated, headed by renowned Guyanese Cardiologist Dr Mahendra Carpen, has publicly indicated its interest in building a specialty hospital in Guyana. But, the company was unwittingly vested with land under the former APNU/AFC Government by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), while the Granger Government was in a caretaker mode. With the change of Government, the company has since said it would return the land it acquired to ensure there is a fair and transparent land allocation process. Dr Carpen nevertheless signalled his intention to work with the PPP/C Government to bring the specialty hospital to fruition.
Another area where Canada is likely to offer assistance is electoral reform, the need for which has become even more pronounced since the March 2 General and Regional Elections. According to Chatterjee, the help is on the table waiting for Guyana to tap into. “We have talked to President Ali, Attorney General (Anil) Nandlall and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira, saying that we’re willing to support electoral reform if that’s what they want. And they’ve indicated that they want that,” Chatterjee said. “So, we’ve talked to them about what we can provide for support. They need to discuss it in Cabinet and come up with a decision. Once they let us know what they would like, we’d be happy to respond.” President Ali had previously committed to establishing a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to examine and investigate the events following the March 2, 2020 elections in Guyana, and to make recom-
Mining is one of the sectors where Canada’s help has been sought
mendations where warranted. Only recently, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had informed Guyana of the extensive technical support the UNDP can offer on a myriad of various governance issues, including, but not limited to strengthening of democracy, justice reform, and electoral reform. UNDP Resident Representative Jairo Valverde had met with AG Nandlall, following which a missive was released from the Legal Affairs Ministry informing that Valverde had offered to provide technical
assistance and support to implement the recommendations for improvement and change that would be made to the electoral process after the conclusion of the CoI. Valverde had indicated that the UNDP has in excess of 8000 technical persons deployed across the world assisting various Governments in electoral reform and other key areas that require technical support in governance. He had stated that the UNDP is, as a result, willing and capable of providing any assistance that the Government of Guyana would require upon request.
