The naturalised Chinese man and tenant of Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who is at the centre of bribery allegations by US-based network VICE Media, has a number of businesses here and they include construction, fuel, large scale lumber and quarrying operations.
Su Zhi Rong (also known as Su Zhirong) has been operating in Guyana since before 2006 and was the recipient of a large lumber concession under his company Rong–An Inc.
Rong-An Inc. was incorporated here in 2006 and had submitted an application the same year for authorisation to undertake large-scale logging and the operation of a portable sawmill within SFEP 02/ 2011, located on the right bank of the Berbice River and left bank of the Corentyne River in Region 6. The company had said that it would be plugging some US$20M into the investment.
It had received a State Forest Exploratory Permit (SFEP) from the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) designated 2/2011 for an area of 57,929 hectares of forest resources.
Then, the company said the project would have a life span of at least 50 years with Rong-An- Inc. pledging to invest more than US$50 million in Guyana in various sectors including an initial US$20 million in the forestry sector.
Rong-An Inc and fellow Chinese company, Baishanlin have been the source of much controversy over their forestry operations here over the years.
However, in 2017, the company, along with R.L. Sukhram and Sons Sawmill was awarded two lots totaling over 800,000 hectares of the former Barama Company Limited (BCL) concession. Parcel 1 is a forest area of the size 417,809.23 hectares and was given to Su while Parcel 2, a forest area of size 432,262.59 hectares was given to Sukhram.
Then, the GFC had said that the projects would yield a total investment of US$9.5 million by 2020 and the creation of 524 jobs when the operations were at full scale.
According to the proposal submitted by Rong-An Inc, it confirmed that it was incorporated in Guyana on September 1, 2006 with its registered address being Lot ‘A’, Block ‘2’, Public Road, Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara, Guyana.
The company said that on April 28, 2017, it made an application for a 417, 809.23 hectares parcel of forest designated SFEP 1/2017 and on July 5, 2017 the GFC granted SFEP 1/2017 to the company. One-third of the concession area lies in Region 1, while the southern two-thirds of the area is a part of Region 7.
“(Rong-An Inc )”s primary interest in the area is the sustainable harvesting of merchantable timber for offsite processing. The SFEP granted exploratory rights to the area so that the company can study issues such as the merchantable stocking of the area and stakeholders’ interests and then determine whether timber harvesting business there would be feasible”, it had said.
The project summary said that, “(Rong-An Inc’s) logging operations is projected to restore about G$500 million per year to the combined economies of Regions 1, 2 and 3 (which those regions lost when BCL closed operations) and increase national timber output by 12%. With some 150 persons to be employed, the revenue base for the GRA and NIS will expand markedly.”
It is unclear if the company has met its commitment.
Quarrying
In addition to lumber, last year Su was granted a quarrying licence for over 2000 acres of land in Region 7.
Under the company, Southern Canton International Trading Inc, Su applied for a quarry licence to operate within the Mazaruni mining district, saying it had a planned investment of US$11.7 million.
The company was granted the licence for 2,289 acres for quarry potential, referred to as Turiruba in the Korerit and Mazaruni Rivers.
The project summary stated that a pre-feasibility study shows the area has approximately 9,838,178 tonnes and that the project can be profitable once (a) detailed drilling programme is done to confirm the initial appraisal.
“The Blasting Proximity puts every one out of the radius, so no harm will come to anyone. To produce a ton of material it is going to cost approximately $1375 Guyana dollars and the company will probably make approximately …$6.9 million USD in the first year of production,” it said.
The company says it will produce 200,000 metric tonnes of stone annually and will mine 20 acres at a time.
According to its project proposal, the area has an estimated volume of 9,838,178 metric tonnes of stone.
“Southern Canton International Trading Inc. is looking to invest more than $3 million USD to get the project started. A total of $11.7 million USD for capital Investment and Life of Mine,” the project summary states.
It estimates the payback period at approximately one year and the open pit operating cost to be US$3.99 per tonne and crushing cost is US$2.25 per tonne.
Fuel
Aside from lumber and quarrying, Su is also listed as the head of the China Zhonghao Inc. company which shares the same business address with Rong-An Inc and has a bulk fuel facility at the Falls gas station on the East Bank of Demerara. It stores fuel for a number of local dealers and has boasted of its capacity.
It was the Falls storage facility that was referred to by Atlantic Fuel Inc (AFI) in 2020 when the GRA seized its import consignment of 635,353 litres of diesel fuel saying that it was illegal.
The Guyana Energy Agency in a letter dated 3rd December 2020, indicated that investigations had revealed that the fuel was purchased from Staatsolie, a Surinamese Company, as opposed to Global Oil as claimed by AFI.
Construction
Su is also heavily invested in the construction sector here and is the face behind Hi-Tech Construction Inc.
“Hi-Tech Construction Inc is an international company. Incorporated in 2011 and headquartered in Georgetown, Guyana. Relying on its abundant experience and ability to innovate, Hi- Tech is now focusing on sustainable logging, mining and land development,” the company’s profile states.
“Hi-Tech Construction Inc. has its forest concession of around 100,000 hectares and mining concession of around 300 hectares. Hi-tech implements industry-developed best management practices to ensure that future generations will benefit from healthy forests, clean air and water, recreational opportunities, and of course, timber and mineral products. As a responsible part of logging and mining business, Hi-Tech strives to exceed all safety standards through continued training, smart recruiting, communication at all levels and constant maintenance of equipment. As an active part of environment protectors, Hi-Tech ensures that all harvesting operations and mining operations are conducted under strict guidelines and regulations designed to protect the environment at every level. Apart from its experience in logging and mining,” it added.
Hi-Tech also boasted that it has “a long history of enabling countless people to fulfill the dream of land ownership.”
“As one of the experienced land development experts Hi-Tech offers options and strategies to maximize the profitability of investment. With an unwavering commitment to perfect service, Hi-Tech stands behind the quality and value of development. Hi-Tech will … achieve and maintain its operational excellence and profitability, and keep making contributions to the economic and social well-being of Guyana,” the company says.
Additionally, Su was one of the Chinese businessmen, along with Baishanlin’c Chu Honbo who was photographed with Minister of State Joseph Harmon when he was on a controversial trip to China in 2016.
Su’s name was put to Guyana’s Vice President by VICE which had said that he told the media entity that he takes bribes for Jagdeo. The Vice President has said that Su has denied these claims. Su has not spoken to the media directly. The claims will be developed into a programme for broadcast centred on the contention that Chinese businessmen here had been claiming that bribes were taken in return for moving projects along.
Jagdeo has denied the claims and President Irfaan Ali has dismissed them and said that his government is above board.
