Former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds in Washington, D.C.
The recent decline in bauxite production is linked to the unprecedented floods that affected Guyana during the May-June rains in 2021.
The disaster saw thousands of homes and farmlands being destroyed, while a number of mining operations were completely submerged, or, in some cases, washed away.
But despite the destruction, bauxite production is expected to recover in 2022, with a projected growth of 25.4 per cent.
The former Prime Minister believes that Guyana’s bauxite industry has thrived because of the investments made by the PPP/C. However, he noted that the deposit here would not have thrived in a developed country. Hinds reminded that bauxite was once the main natural resource being exported from Guyana.
Deeming bauxite mining fit for further development and possibly a major revitalisation, he noted that the cost of operating was higher than market prices.
Although there were concerns about this, Hinds said the industry received support from the PPP/C administration. More importantly, Hinds said this was done to provide employment for the people of Guyana.
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The bauxite mined-out area in Linden, Region 10 (Photo: News Room)“Maybe Omai was an operation to provide employment to Guyanese at maybe twice the average rate at which Guyanese were being paid in Guyana at that time.
“You can look at it that way, that it was an opportunity to provide employment to Guyanese people at about twice the rate that they would’ve been employed in other places in Guyana at the time,” Hinds said.
“The Omai deposit, if it were in another country it would not have been developed, it would have been left right there,” he added.
Further, Hinds explained that the PPP/C was adamant to ensure the industry thrived that it made arrangements to ensure persons within the mining industry were given formal classes. This was to make them computer literate while offering other technical skills training to ensure bauxite workers remained employed as activities were being scaled down.
Recently, President Irfaan Ali told regional leaders that despite challenges Guyana’s bauxite industry is poised to make a notable comeback because of substantial amounts of minerals yet to be extracted.
The country’s estimated bauxite reserves, alone, are worth close to US$1 billion.
