OLD Kai is not surprised at the ignorance, either deliberate or otherwise, displayed by the Kaieteur News and, of course, its ‘doll house’ partner, the political opposition, in regard to our forestry sector.

The publisher of the newspaper jumps into a helicopter, hovers over a clearing in Region 10, and pretends to be dumbfounded at the sight of logs being brought from various parts of the forest to the loading point.

We then know the reason for this pretense, as he and his newspaper, in conjunction with Opposition elements, begin a series of attacks on the Chinese company Bai Shan Lin.

It is not the newspaper, but rather forestry stakeholders who subsequently were forced to expose the Kaieteur News’s misinformation by revealing that the area in question was not solely used by the Chinese company, as there were several other companies utilizing the site to store their logs for transport.

The ruling party and the Government then had cause to point out that this was yet another attack by this particular media house and its Opposition allies against foreign companies, more specifically Chinese companies.

This becomes more obvious to the average person who is familiar with the local forestry sector; as we now have to ask why only this stockpiling site was highlighted and why only this Chinese company is being blamed, when there are several other such sites which have been in operation for decades and are owned by both local and other foreign companies?

Why only now is this fear suddenly being created that our forests would be depleted within a few years due to logging by this particular Chinese company, when hundreds of small, medium and large scale operations — some larger than this Chinese company — have been in operation for more than 30 to 100 years in Guyana?

Why has Kaieteur News refused to focus on all the other forestry logging operators and has centred its fury on this Chinese company?

Simply put, it is a deliberate, sinister attack.

The newspaper then went and found two Amerindians who appeared to be disgruntled ex-employees who claimed they were owed “plenty, plenty money”. If this is indeed true, then it needs to be investigated; but with such a large operation, as is apparently the main concern of the Kaieteur News, how come they could only have found ‘two’ disgruntled workers from a company which directly employs around 200, and creates employment opportunities for hundreds more?

This is the nature of the deception by the Kaieteur News. Why have they not gone to the hundreds of Guyanese who have been benefiting from the operations of the Chinese company to provide a balanced coverage? How balanced is two as opposed to several hundred? That is the Kaieteur News style of journalism for you.

Let us also consider that the Guyana Forestry Commission has indicated that the company’s export of timber is way below its allotted quota; and, also, the harvesting of timber is a carefully scrutinized process, inclusive of real time satellite tracking and a host of other independent monitoring mechanisms.

After this disclosure, Kaieteur News then switched its concern to the fact that logs were being exported rather than being processed in Guyana, and this value added process would create more jobs. Fair enough, but the paper has failed to acknowledge and hold accountable the Opposition controlled Region 10 RDC for deliberately creating stumbling blocks to prevent Bai Shan Lin from establishing its wood processing plant in the region for this very purpose.

The company has noted in a statement to the media that when it applied to establish the facility, the ideal location was in port Georgetown; however, the PPP/C Government had insisted that the facility be established in Region 10, to create more jobs in that area.

Bearing in mind that the PNC/R=APNU and its Region 10 Chairman have always lamented the lack of job opportunities for residents there, one wonders why they seem bent on ensuring the project does not materialize?

We now have to ask the very serious question as to whether or not the opposition, aided by certain sections of the media, is playing a dangerous game of politics with the lives of our citizens yet again. Who would benefit from a lack of job opportunities in these areas which have traditionally been strongholds for the PNC?

By depriving Lindeners and surrounding villagers of new sources of employment, the opposition will then turn around and subsequently lament, close to election time, that the Government has not done anything to create employment; and of course their race-baiting messages will commence.

You can bet your last dollar that the pposition’s pit-bull, the Kaieteur News, will be there to report it and interview the residents, lamenting the lack of jobs and berating the Government.

However, for this to be possible, they have to do what they are currently doing, which is attack any and every initiative that would create those jobs.