Chinese company Bais-hanlin International Forest Development Inc says it has not constructed a new road in the Rupununi but has “merely upgraded old roads and trails through existing forest concessions and onto one of its State Forest Exploratory Areas (SFEP)”.
In a statement yesterday, nine days after a report appeared in the Sunday Stabroek where the company was accused of building a new 130 km road without permission, the controversial Chinese company said it noted “with concern reports in the media that claim the company constructed 130km of road that passes through the North Rupununi district, disrupting the lives of several Amerindian communities”.
Baishanlin said the road in question is aligned between the escarpment of the Corentyne River and the Berbice River watershed, in line with regulations that permit limited commercial activity in the exploratory phase of the operations.
“Further, the roads and trails upgraded by the company does not pass through any Amerindian community but is limited to the locations for which forestry concessions are being considered or active. The road will also provide vital access to other operators in the forestry sector, including those from Region 10”, the statement said.
The company further said that it is in the process of meeting with communities in the North Rupununi district to tackle concerns and incorporate recommendations for the proposed operations in the area, as part of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for its proposed logging project.
The company also asserted that that it has “gone beyond what is required under regulations by including the upgrade of the old roads and trails in the current ESIA.”
It added that the environmental and social effects of the Project are being assessed, and the ESIA report will be prepared and submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval.
“Baishanlin would like to reiterate that it is fully committed to adhering to the laws and regulations governing forestry in Guyana and will continue to work in the best interest of the communities in which it operates, and Guyana as a whole”, the statement said.
The statement came two weeks after Baishanlin and EPA officials were confronted by residents over the road at a meeting at Apoteri, Rupununi. While the statement yesterday spoke about the reopening of trails, residents are convinced that a new road has been built.
The law requires an environmental permit to be issued before any major project such as road construction is undertaken. The road in question extends from Kwakwani in Region 10 almost to Region Nine. An EPA source confirmed that no impact assessment was done for the road.
Under the Environmental Protection Act, “a developer of any project listed in the Fourth Schedule, or any other project which may significantly affect the environment,” is required to apply to the EPA for an environmental permit for the project. Among others, the construction of roads, harbours and airfields are listed in the Fourth Schedule and such projects require environmental authorization before construction can begin. According to the Act, every person who fails to carry out an environmental impact assessment or who commences a project without obtaining an environmental permit as required under the Act or the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to prescribed penalties.
Director for the Compliance and Enforcement division of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Khemraj Parsram had told the meeting in Apoteri that the road would be covered under the ESIA currently being done. Deputy-Commissioner of Forests Tashreef Khan had also told the meeting that there was “upgrading” of trails and the company was given permission to “upgrade the trails.”
Despite Khan’s statement, no current official maps indicate the presence of “trails” where the road is now and it is now so wide as to enable heavy-duty equipment to traverse it, including logging trucks. Further, Guyana Forestry Commission maps seen by Stabroek News indicate a proposed road alignment by Baishanlin with the map showing no indication that a road was present in the area; it only refers to the proposed road. The road works occurred over the past several months.
Baishanlin has applied to the EPA for permission to begin large-scale logging and sawmilling operations at its forest concessions in Regions Six and Nine, and in its project summary the controversial Chinese company had said that in the preparatory phase, activities would include establishing initially more than 196 km of all-weather roads to allow access to the concession area. According to the company, the all-weather roads will incorporate a number of bridges and culverts and the establishment of a number of borrow pits. The construction of the roads will lead to the felling of trees along the planned road alignment, it had said.
Khan, at the Apoteri meeting, told residents, after numerous concerns were expressed, that construction would halt immediately.
The authorities have been aware of the presence of the road and in the weeks prior to the Apoteri meeting, some stakeholders expressed concerns about the road and Commissioner of Forests James Singh told a meeting of the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee on August 20 that a separate environmental social impact assessment (ESIA) must be done for any road that needs to be built, according to several persons who were present at the meeting as well as the minutes of the meeting.
At the Apoteri meeting, concerns were also voiced that the road work is enabling the widespread hunting of wildlife and the transport of logs. Baishanlin has come under scrutiny in recent months because of concerns that it is exporting more logs than permissible by law. The company and the Guyana Forestry Commission have firmly denied this.
“Miners already on the road. Hunters already on the road. It is going to affect the waterways,” Sydney Allicock, of Surama and the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), said at the September 23rd meeting. He pointed to other operations involving Baishanlin and expressed concern that the same could happen in Region Nine. Further, he said, the process was “backwards” as the company is only now holding a scoping meeting while there are already people traversing the forest.
Citing the construction of the road, Vanda Radzik, adviser to the North Rupununi’s Community Monitoring, Reporting and Verification project, said that the process was “back-to-front” even as she noted that no ESIA was done for the project. She said that it begs more questions than answers and people would lose trust and confidence in the process. “It’s just not enough,” she said.
Radzik revealed that according to a report from someone who had traversed the road recently, it was being built at a very fast rate and was described as being in a better condition than the Linden-Lethem road. She said that logs were seen being carried out and there were many Chinese workers but few Guyanese and they were not involved in the construction. “There was an abundance of Chinese observed with just a few local Guyanese cooks and chainsaw operators,” she reported.
There was also lots of hunting being done, Radzik said. “Hunting appears to be unregulated and uncontrolled, lots of reports of people shooting numerous tapir and labba in an apparently unregulated, uncontrolled and unmonitored way,” she reported. She said that according to the report given, one Saturday, at about 6.30 pm in the evening, a well-kitted out truck with flood-lights and shooting bench mounted high behind the cab was observed moving up and down the road. “Most detrimental impacts and effects is from the opening of this trail/road and its apparently uncontrolled access and the consequences on biodiversity and resources on lands used by Amerindians,” she added.
