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There are  7,000 registered gold mining dredges scattered all over Guyana’s  hinterland and less than 100 Mines Officers within the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to monitor their operations and ensure that they comply with regulations.The disparity was disclosed by President of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) Mr. Patrick Harding, and confirmed by GGMC Commissioner, Rickford Vieira, during a recent meeting of the GGDMA.Mr. Harding noted that this situation has led to enforcement of the regulations emerging as a significant problem in the sector.Harding said, “The GGMC has its hands somewhat tied as far as manpower is concerned. The Commissioner has a very tough task.”He urged miners attending the meeting to work with the GGMC in carrying out environmentally friendly mining and to sell their gold either to the Guyana Gold Board or to licensed buyers.He said that there will be enforcement of regulations and urged the miners to register their equipment and to do the right thing for the industry and encourage others to follow suit.Mr. Vieira confirmed that the operational resources of the GGMC were inadequate.He said, “We are at the moment not fully in control of the sub-sector. We get a lot of losses in taxes and royalties because we can’t control it.”“There is insufficient Government income from these operations in terms of royalty and there are a lot of illegal operations that we are now trying to deal with.”