THE Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) was yesterday forced to respond to an article that was published in the Kaieteur News, which it labelled as riddled with false accusations, malicious statements, misinformation and atrocious falsehoods that are unsupported by any evidence.

The article which was carried under the caption: “Chinese logging company takes over Guyana’s forests,” was apparently lifted from an online site, mongabay.com, purportedly written by a correspondent, John C. Cannon and reprinted by the Kaieteur News.
The Forestry Commission immediately issued a public statement indicating that as the Government agency responsible for sustainable management of state forests,it is compelled to inform the general public of “the undisputable facts.”

APPROPRIATE ACTION
The article alleged that logging company Bai Shan Lin had somehow been able to flout local laws, but according to the Forestry Commission, “there is no circumventing of Guyana’s logging laws by any logging company, or any other forestry sector- based company.”
The statement issued under the hand of Commissioner of Forests, James Singh, highlighted that the entity has robust and functional systems, procedures and guidelines which all forest sector companies are audited against.
Should there be any breaches unearthed, “appropriate action is taken based on the findings of a thorough investigation and in accordance with the forest law,” Singh said.
The Forestry Commissioner indicated that the account reproduced by Kaieteur News, to the effect that “… foreign corporations and Government officials are paying lip service to the accords…” is simply ridiculous and not based on any factual evidence.
The article in reference quoted an individual identified as John Palmer, who is purportedly a senior associate at the Forest Management Trust based in Gainesville, Florida
Singh said that it is alarming for Palmer to suggest, as was quoted in the article that “…companies like Bai Shan Lin likely pay bribes to key members of the country’s government to turn a blind eye to violations”.
According to Singh, “this malicious statement is unsurprisingly, not supported by one shred of evidence.”

PUBLICIZED FACTS
The article had also incorrectly pronounced, according to Singh, that “the Chinese Company Bai Shan Lin now controls about 1.4 million hectares in Guyana”.
The Forestry Commissioner again made public that “the undisputed and well publicized fact is that BaiShan Lin has legal access to 627,072 hectares of land.”
This land is accessed accumulatively under different agreements.
The figures provided by the Forestry Commission,indicate that Chinese Logging Company Bai Shan Lin, is in control of 344,849 hectares under a State Forest Exploratory Permits (SFEP).
This swathe of land, according to the Forestry Commission is still subject to an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and a Forest Inventory (FI).
In addition, Bai Shan Lin will also have to submit a Business Plan to the satisfaction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and GFC before a Timber Sales Agreement (TSA) is granted.
A TSA allows for full- scale harvesting in accordance with GFC guidelines.
Bai Shan Lin also has access to another 274,053 hectares under Timber Sales Agreement -Joint Venture Agreements while another 8,170 hectares are accessed under State Forest Permissions
As such, the GFC contends that Palmer‘s claims that Bai Shan Lin has “dubiously” acquired permits or rights to harvest timber in Guyana are simply another atrocious falsehood.
“His allegation that Bai Shan Lin has opted for joint “venture agreements” (JV) with other companies to circumvent the GFC requirements is also without merit,” according to the GFC.
The article had alleged that Bai Shan Lin was instead “land-lording” in addition to the “dubiously” acquired permits.”

JOINT VENTURE REQUIREMENTS
In order to undertake a joint venture, according Singh, there are a number of requirements that must be complied with before a decision is taken
He outlined that firstly a request by the company/individual that has legal access to state forest and has to be submitted followed by thorough background assessments.
The assessments are used to guide the GFC in its recommendations to its Board’s Technical Sub-Committee whose work will again be vetted by the substantive board before a decision is taken.
According to the Forestry Commissioner, all this is in keeping with the Forests Act, and was adhered to by Bai Shan Lin.

WOOD- PROCESSING PLANT
The article also sought to castigate the Forestry Commission over the fact that companies are allowed to ship unprocessed logs overseas, but according to Singh, the Government has always held this option as priority but it was stakeholders in the forestry industry that resisted a ban.
He explained that Government through the GFC has always emphasised the need to reduce log exports and maximize the in-country manufacture of value- added forest products.
According to Singh however, “when the National Log Export Policy was being formulated, stakeholders stoutly resisted the GFC’s position to ban the export of logs…they opted instead for a graduated increase in the export commission on log exports. Log exports are legitimately done in accordance with this policy.”
Despite this being the case, Singh says that GFC has impressed upon Bai Shan Lin and all other foreign and local companies, the need to accelerate meeting their stated commitments as it relates to manufacture of value- added forest products.
“In this regard,” the GFC announced that work will re-commence very shortly on the construction of Bai Shan Lin’s wood- processing plant.