Georgetown: The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) say that it is making progress in its quest to establish itself as an importer of diesel fuel. President of the GGDMA, Patrick Harding said that the Association has submitted proposals to both the Guyana Energy Authority (GEA) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on how it would carry out the importation and was currently awaiting a response.
He said that members are hoping for a speedy response from these agencies so that they can go ahead with this commercial activity which is intended to bring down the operational costs of stakeholders in the gold and diamond mining industry.
The GGDMA, through its company, GGDMA Trading Inc. was granted a fuel importation licence by Government to allow for the cheaper importation of diesel fuel.
This permission was granted as a form of assistance to miners hard hit by the falling prices of gold in recent months.
The Association was also granted a tariff waiver of 10 percent on diesel fuel imported by GGDMA Trading Inc. for use only within the mining sector.
Some twelve to fifteen thousand persons directly involved in the gold and diamond mining sector are expected to benefit from this intervention.
Harding said yesterday that miners have been unable to benefit from the importation licence and tariff waiver to date.
He said that the process of collaboration with the Government agencies was still ongoing.
He said that the desired clearance coupled with the recent 30% reduction in prices of gasoline and diesel will greatly help the small and medium scale gold miners to keep their operations afloat, despite the reduced prices they are currently getting for their products.
He said: “As such it is greatly anticipated.”
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