AMIDST widespread allegations of poor environmental management and resource exploitation, Chinese logging company Bai Shan Lin has responded to the allegations pedaled by sections of the media. 

Outlining its position, the company maintained that it had started its work in 2007 and rejected the notion that their operations were permitted under unregulated conditions and outside the provisions of the law.
According to the statement: “Over the period 2011- 2013, the company applied through the GFC’s forest allocation process and has been granted two State Forest Exploratory Permits.”
Such permits amounted to some 344,849 hectares, for which applications were from public advisories by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC). The company noted that through various partnership arrangements, BSL “has invested substantial financial and capital resources into these operations.”
“This investment includes road construction and rehabilitation, harvesting and trucking equipment, and human resources.” The company boasts that in keeping with its social responsibility to the region, BSL “has employed close to 200 local Guyanese in various areas of operation, including in harvesting, heavy duty equipment operation, field teams and administrative personnel.”
BSL also stated that in 2008, they applied to the Government of Guyana through the Guyana Office for Invest (GO-Invest) “to lease lands to set up a factory to process logs and engage in value-added production, such as the making of furniture, craft, and hardware flooring.”
They noted that the raw material extracted from Guyana is currently being shipped to China for processing into the mentioned finished products. However, the company said it was granted a “lease for the construction of our processing plant four years after we applied for it.” The lease allows for some 200 acres of land located in Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Upper Berbice).
Efforts made to contact Forestry Commissioner, Mr. James Singh for further clarification of the GFC’s position proved futile.

CREATING JOBS
Additionally, it was noted that “For strategic reasons, we would have preferred lands closer to Port Georgetown, but the Government insisted that the factory be set up in Region 10 to provide employment to the people of Linden.”
The logging giant maintains that the company “commits to fulfilling its social responsibility to the people of Linden and its environs.” And further will “employ thousands of Guyanese, once we are given an opportunity to realise our planned projects.”
Contrary to condemnations of BSL operations, due to the alleged failure to employ local residents, BSL has released documents, seen by the Guyana Chronicle, which reveal that BSL employs some 202 persons, 151 of whom are Guyanese.
The document makes clear that BSL employees earn in excess of $60,000 per month as a stable fee, while there are those who earn more when the performance measurement is added to the equation.

PROTEST
The operations of the Chinese company have come under the microscope recently. The Environmental Community Health Organisation (ECHO) headed by Executive Director, Mr. Royston King staged a protest in front of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, calling for the release of the contract between the Chinese logging company, Bai Shan Lin and the Government of Guyana.
King, in an invited comment, stated that “the picket is the first in a series of exercises to call attention to what we are doing with nature.” He expressed concern over logging companies felling trees “capriciously” without the requisite health and environmental safety regulations.
He said, “We are asking for transparency and accountability on the part of those who have the responsibility to manage the environment and to manage these resources.” King called for accountability and transparency from companies holding mining and logging concessions from the Government.