GIVEAWAY PPP doled out all of Guyana’s productive forestry resources

By Alva Solomon

ALL of Guyana’s productive forestry resources have been shared out, and Government will soon move to repossess some of these leases, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman has said.

Almost deeming criminal this act by the previous PPP/C Government, Trotman queried which serious administration would dole out all of its forestry resources.
Trotman said such an act also poses grave security risks, and the APNU+AFC government will have to correct this urgently. Over the years, there have been many complaints and reports of the willy-nilly distribution of forestry concessions here. “All 100% of productive forest was shared out prior to us assuming government,” Trotman told the House as he displayed a document for MPs to see. He said that the situation was “unimaginable” and that he cannot come to grips with how the PPP/C administration “could have allowed such to happen.”

“How can a responsible government preside over such (an act)?” Trotman asked, as he noted that the PPP’s actions clearly do not cater for future generations.

“This government will have to do, and will be doing, something about it,” the Minister asserted.

Delivering his budget debate presentation, Trotman said the Ministry of Natural Resources, in continuing the expansion and sustainability of the natural resources and environmental sectors, has commenced a series of critical initiatives to improve management and coordination of those sectors in the short and medium terms. Among such initiatives is the establishment of the country’s first biodiversity offset project, which will be established in the Kaieteur National Park. The project will be undertaken by the government through the Natural Resources Ministry, in collaboration with Guyana Goldfield Inc. The ambitious project is aimed at offsetting the impacts of the Canadian mining company’s effects on the environment through its mining activities here.

A biodiversity offset is a system used predominantly by planning authorities and developers to fully compensate for biodiversity impacts associated with economic development. Trotman told the National Assembly that, this year, the country will witness the signing of an agreement between Guyana Goldfields Inc. and the Government, to establish the biodiversity offset for the Kaieteur National Park. He said that the project is one of the first mining offsets for protected areas globally.

The Natural Resources sector has contributed significantly to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with gold mining being a major contributor to the economy. Management of the environment is high on its agenda, and as Trotman zoomed in on the issue, he said that the financial commitment to the tune of Gy$746M, as budgeted this year, is necessary to implement the capital and recurrent work programmes of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Parks Commission, Protected Areas Commission, and the Wildlife Management Authority.

He said the allocation, when effected, will see the nation moving closer to revealing a Guyana that is discernibly more environmentally responsible. As regards the EPA, he said that this year the Natural Resources Ministry will commence the implementation of a project aimed at reorienting the EPA. According to the Minister, the project is aimed at improving overall management and streamlining work for authorization and compliance of development activities.

“It is anticipated that, with this intervention, the EPA will become more equipped and self-sufficient, and thus continue to advance its role in promoting sound environmental management in Guyana,” Trotman said.

He said that since establishment of the EPA, the need for stronger legislation to address non-compliance with the Environmental Protection (EP) Act and its supporting regulations “has become very evident to the Agency”.

He explained that the development and subsequent implementation of the Environmental Protection Compliance and Enforcement Regulations would not only address mining-related activities, but would address all other developmental and infrastructural projects authorized by the EPA and the relevant sector agencies. He said that persons authorized under the EP Act should have no less power than authorized officers under any other Act. “However, at present, officers under the EP Act have no powers of arrest or issuing summons, etc., although the nature of the Agency’s work is quite sensitive and officers are put in potentially threatening situations, especially when attempting to enforce the Act”, Trotman noted.

To this end, he noted that the Agency seeks to improve the enforcement of the Environmental Protection Act and supporting regulations, for effective environmental management and mining activities through the development of relevant regulations. He said the regulations will be submitted to Parliament shortly, with the aim of early implementation this year.

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