Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud on Monday said that widespread illegal logging has been eradicated.
“We’ve eliminated 100% commercial illegal logging,” he declared at a news conference, while pointing out that there remain isolated instances but these are at a local level where someone from a village might “just go and cut a tree.” They are also clamping down on this, he said.
According to Persaud, if a concessionaire steps five feet out of his concession, the authorities pursue this. “We want people to recognize that there’s no flexibility on that part, illegal operations or any attempt to extract timber outside of the guidelines,” he said. He noted that there are currently close to 250 monitoring officers.
Persaud also pointed out that in the case of indigenous villages that have ownership over their land, the Guyana Forestry Commission has no jurisdiction since it is considered private land but he added that the agency offers them support and many subscribe voluntarily.
Meanwhile, the Minister confirmed that he has received a plan from timber company Barama Company Limited to re-open a plywood factory.
He said that he is studying the plan and the intention is that Barama will resume its plywood operation as early as possible. Once the review is finished, Barama will know his thoughts and outlook on matter, Persaud said. Barama had closed its plywood factory after a key component was damaged last year.
In response to a question that duties on plywood have not been waived and dealers have reported that prices remain high, Persaud responded that President Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that duties will be waived and persons perhaps have to follow a procedure in how to access it. He added that they can possibly be guided by the Guyana Revenue Authority on how that can be done.
