The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) yesterday stood by its wood products export figures supplied to organisations including the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), doing nothing to defuse the claim made by Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh that the increase in timber export earnings this year was due to “an expansion in plywood exports.”
Singh has come under fire and been accused of disseminating falsehoods as a result of the statement which was made in the official mid-year report on the economy. Singh reported that for the first six months of the year the forestry sector recorded growth of 38.1%, “supported by the introduction of new incentives to harvesters and sustained demand from the construction sector and furniture manufacturing subsector.” This was not explained.
As a consequence, the growth target for the sector has been revised upwards significantly from the budgeted 3.3% to 15% growth for