Dear Editor,
The issue of the large-scale export of logs by Bai Shan Lin must be taken in the context of what the forestry policy filtered down to Guyanese is.
A few years ago, I was asked as an elected councillor to deliver the welcome and opening address to a seminar on value added forestry products in the Kwakwani community. The seminar was organised by the Guyana Forestry Commission and the target groups were loggers and forestry associations within the Sub Region of Region Ten.
Even though the address was impromptu because I only had a few minutes to prepare, I was told that my presentation was similar to a keynote address because every presenter made reference to something I had said.
My understanding is that Guyana was moving away from exporting logs and was gearing towards value added products. The objective was to ensure we got more value for our products, which would require companies and associations to create employment because new industries would have to be established. To ensure this policy was adhered to, I recall loggers being forced to invest millions of dollars in wood mizers so that some value could be added to the logs before they were allowed to be shipped by the Forestry Commission.
Then the loggers were faced with the Low Carbon Development Strategy. As a community, we were bombarded with television advertisements asking that as Guyanese, we must preserve our forest for future generations.
Compound the above with the state of the Linden to Kwakwani Road, which in the history of the community is in the worst state ever. A journey which should take ninety minutes, now takes over four hours, all because of the abuse by this Chinese logging company.
It is time a that a public disclosure was made about what is officially going on in the forestry sector. Or are the words of the national song “This land is my land” no longer relevant to people born in Guyana?
Yours faithfully,
Jocelyn Morian
