More than two weeks after he was accused of disseminating falsehoods following the publication of export data that contradicted his statements regarding forestry exports, Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh remains silent on the charge.
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 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 was revised upwards significantly from the budgeted 3.3% to 15% growth for 2014. The report said that timber export earnings rose to US$21.3 million, a 31.3% increase due to an increase in export volume, “reflecting an expansion in plywood exports.”
However, Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) data does not support Singh’s statement that the increase in exports was largely due to an expansion of plywood exports. Information supplied to the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and to the Forest Products Development & Marketing Council (FPDMC) of Guyana Inc by the GFC show that plywood exports for the first half of this year amounted to 1,931 cubic metres, an increase of just 4.3% from 1,851 cubic metres for the same period last year. These plywood exports were valued at US$973,925.
In contrast, log exports for the first half of this year amounted to 54,376 cubic metres compared to 30,356 cubic metres for the same period last year, an increase of 80%. These log exports were valued at US$8,726,893.
The figures do not bear out Singh’s statement that “an expansion in plywood exports” is responsible for the increase in timber export earnings.
The GFC has stood by its figures and said that the figures supplied to the ITTO are accurate. There have been calls from the political parties and others for Singh to explain his statement but he has not done so. Stabroek News business columnist Rawle Lucas had noted that an explanation for the discrepancy is still to be offered and “there are questions about the reliability of some of the data which exist and that in itself raises questions about the validity of the entire mid-year report.”
He pointed out that the trustworthiness of some public officials has been in doubt for several years now with a non-functioning Integrity Commission. “Those doubts have been reinforced by Guyana’s low ranking in the perception of corruption that Transparency International publishes and the frequent qualified opinions of public accounts of the Auditor-General. This is in addition to the skepticism expressed periodically by Professor Clive Thomas and others for whom the reliability of public data has long been a sore point,” he said. AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan had told Stabroek News that Singh must be held to account. “He is now disseminating falsehoods and misrepresenting the truth to the Guyanese public,” he said.
“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 had said while APNU’s finance spokesperson Carl Greenidge told Stabroek News that Singh has to explain his statement.
