AS a concerned forestry stakeholder and a committed and patriotic Guyanese, I notice with no surprise, some recent statements made by the Bulkans in the newspapers. I must reply to these statements to ensure that John Public is properly informed, and not sidetracked by the hate and bitterness of these selfish and unpatriotic Guyanese.

The bogus doctor indicated that the GFC is allowing the harvest of only a few species, leading to creaming of the forest. Well isn’t this what her brothers (of the now bankrupt Precision Woodworking Manufacturing) did? Weren’t they the ones that financed many loggers to cut only locust logs for their garden furniture business? Did they ever try to utilise the lesser used species? Of course not! Their only aim was to line their pockets with the profits from the rich locust logs and they had no interest with the other species. Suddenly Dr. Janet who never said a word then, has woken up and is saying that the poor community loggers are creaming the forest. Shame on you Janet!
She claims to be a doctor in forestry but is far from the reality of the operations on the ground. Otherwise she would know that when the large trees are harvested, there are scores of saplings and more mature younger trees that would be ready to be harvested in the next cycle (25-60 years based on GFC guidance). Janet needs to know that while she and other theoretical know-it-all foresters (like those present in some sections of the media) are raving and ranting about sustainable forestry in Guyana, the facts are that deforestation due to forestry activities is less than 300 ha for the whole country. This has been verified by International and reputable auditors who are the real globally recognised experts in this field.
Additionally, the Bulkan’s family-A Mazaharally and Sons has been logging in Guyana for several decades. Can Dr. Janet tell the country how many species have his several companies been harvesting over the years? And while on that, can she or Kaieteur News/Stabroek News investigate how many concessions this company has and how many they have been working? How much production, value added products and exports this company have done for the past five years? Maybe Howard can lend some assistance to his uncle to help him to finally get involved in value adding after decades in the sector, holding up prime TSA forest lands whilst the community forest operators try to exist on their small state forests. Finally, Howard speaks of the country losing via log exports. That is very true, but we live in a democracy where the Government respects the views of all. At the national log consultation, I was present when GFC recommended a ban on log exports but the majority of stakeholders called in for an export commission.
I also recall that about 80,000 acres of prime forests were directly given to Mr. Howard Bulkan and a group of manufacturers with the understanding that the forest produce coming from those forests would be used to satisfy local manufacturers. How many manufacturers know of this? Did this privileged group ever alert their fellow manufacturers? I do not think so-I believe very strongly that this 80,000 acres are being used for the sole benefit of the Bulkan family and their partners. This is transparency and patriotism of the Bulkan family. Let the nation judge them for who they really are.

PETER PERSAUD