– will it be enough for govt?
Five years after beginning operations here, Indian logging company Vaitarna Holdings Private Inc (VHPI) has finally begun processing of logs albeit on a small scale even as it continues to export them.
Company officials have been tight-lipped on the long-delayed wood processing facility but during a visit to the company’s Wineperu, Essequibo River location on Thurs-day, Stabroek News was able to observe that a sawing machine as well as another piece of equipment to shape the lumber had been installed. This newspaper was told that the equipment was set up earlier this year and began operating in May.
At the time of Stabroek News’ visit, operators were at work sawing logs. A pile of processed lumber was stored under another shed. Stabroek News was told that about 117 cubic metres of processed lumber was produced since operations began in May. However, the recovery rate is low. Some of the lumber has been sold on the local market while some has been exported.
In the meantime, the company also continues to export logs. Piles of logs were seen on the waterfront waiting to be loaded. Barges normally transport the wood for loading onto ships in Georgetown but none was there at the time. Company officials were tight-lipped on the amount of logs being exported. However, one resident noted that the company was harvesting faster than she had seen other companies do and now the trucks have to go some distance into the jungle to gather the cut logs for transport to the waterfront. The company is also building new lodgings for employees.
Stabroek News was told by a company official that there are plans to expand the facility for value-added processing and the larger shed was built to facilitate this. However, it is not clear when the expansion of the facility would take place.
APNU+AFC Minister of Gover-nance Raphael Trotman in June had said that should controversial Chinese company Baishanlin and Vaitarna not produce value-added products by the end of the year, their contracts could be terminated. “Both have been spoken to already. Both have given a commitment that within a matter of months they will be addressing the value-added concern…We are in July and I expect before the end of the year the nation will start to see value-added products being produced by those two companies,” he said at a post-cabinet media briefing.
Asked by Stabroek News last month about progress in moving towards value-added processing, Trotman had said that it is safe to say that it has not happened and government is engaged in ongoing discussions with the companies. It is not clear if the company had indicated that it had begun processing logs, albeit on a small scale, in May.
Trotman had said too that Vaitarna has requested a meeting with him because they have apprehended the government’s displeasure at the slow pace at which they are rolling out their proposed plans.
The company had long promised to set up valued-added processing operations but took years to do so.