The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) has no knowledge of a proposed US$500 million agricultural and forestry investment by the Malaysian syndicate, Wee Boon Ping Group of Companies.
When contacted a senior official of the GFC said that the commission had no knowledge of the investment and it was done through the Ministry of Agriculture and Go-Invest. Stabroek News had reported earlier that Bornion Guyana Inc (BGI) – the local subsidiary of the Wee Boon Ping Group of Companies – had begun the first phase of what it envisions will eventually be a US$500 million investment in Guyana’s agricultural and forestry sectors covering oil palm, rubber and soya, among other crops.
Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy had told Stabroek News that BGI has been allocated 10,000 acres in the Canje Basin to plant rubber. The company has already started its nursery for the rubber plants, he had said.
Stabroek News had learnt that the company plans to establish a state-of-the-art industrial complex by 2017 to produce value-added products based on the commercial scale cultivation of 120,000 hectares of rubber, 100,000 hectares of oil palm, 60,000 hectares of corn, and 30,000 hectares of cassava.
During 2018-2020, it is envisioned that 80,000 hectares will be cultivated with acacia, rice and assorted beans. “The 10-hectare industrial complex will include a large laboratory, several plants for processing and packaging rubber and food crops, a refinery for processing and refining palm oil and other ancillary infrastructure that will see Guyana producing and exporting a range of processed, value-added products,” according to information provided to Stabroek News. In setting up the complex, full use will be made of green energy sources. Another major item in the planned investment is the construction of a pier with warehouse and refrigeration facilities on left bank Corentyne River to ensure timely movement of large volumes of goods being exported.
The company envisages that up to 5,000 people will be employed in nurseries, tending operations in plantations, food processing in factories, rubber and palm oil processing, in support services, and in research.
Chairman of the opposition coalition APNU, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine had said that he will be seeking further information on the proposed investment in the National Assembly.
Roopnaraine had said that he read the story in the Stabroek News and it is not satisfactory to have to rely on the newspapers to get the details on such matters.
Last month, Roopnaraine had called on government to come clean on two potentially major agriculture investments. The two Memoranda of Understanding for large agricultural projects which were quietly signed by the government with Indian and Chinese companies raised disquiet as their terms were not publicized. Roopnaraine had said that the first knowledge of dealings with the D Y Patil Group and China Paper came to his attention through reporting in the Stabroek News. He said that “with these MoUs we are of the firm belief that they need to be fully ventilated and brought to the National Assembly.”
Prior to the reportage in the Stabroek News there had been no information from the government on the details of MoUs clinched with the two companies. In addition, apart from a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) in April 2012 reporting on the visit of Wee Boon Ping Group officials, there has been no word from the government on this deal either.
