In the wake of contradictory figures from the forestry commission, Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh’s statement that the increase in timber export earnings this year was due to “an expansion in plywood exports” has come under fire from the opposition.
“He is now disseminating falsehoods and misrepresenting the truth to the Guyanese public,” AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan told Stabroek News yesterday while saying that Singh must be held to account. “Coming at a time when log exports are a major public issue, the statement by the Minister which understates the scale of log exports does little to reassure an increasingly skeptical public,” chartered accountant and activist Christopher Ram said while APNU’s finance spokesperson Carl Greenidge told Stabroek News that Singh has to explain his statement.
Singh, in the recent mid-year report on the economy, said that for the first six months of the year the forestry sector recorded growth of 38.1%, “supported