AFTER years of reading and hearing of complicity between drug barons and the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), it was with great relief that I read in the media about the part (Guyana Forestry Commission) GFC played in coordinating with GRA and CANU in relation to the multi-million-dollar bust in logs. It was specifically mentioned that GFC had put the logging company on its radar for quite some time and that stemmed from inconsistencies in its exporting operations. This fact put to rest a few suspicions and accusations that tend to imply that there was a link between the forestry sector and drugs.
This was highlighted by Hamley Case in a letter dated March 16, 2005. Subsequently, Mr. James Singh of the GFC stated (at a press conference held at the Ministry of Agriculture on May 6, 2005) that the Board of Directors were discussing the issue of whether this would impede logging/timber exports.
So after quite some time, it is evident to me that the Board of Directors has put systems in place with regard to questionable operations within the logging export business and that it is also sharing the information with the relevant authorities including GRA, CANU, etc. I welcome this productive coordination.