FACED with a plethora of concerns linked to mining and logging in hinterland regions, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman on Friday committed to addressing many of those problems when he attended the 11th National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference on Friday.

Minister Trotman was among government ministers and officials who attended the five-day NTC Conference with the aim of having a greater understanding of the issues facing Amerindian villages across the country and coming up with solutions.
On Friday, forestry-related issues took centre stage with Kabakaburi Toshao, Cleveland Simon, detailing how the village’s inability to harvest lumber has crippled its local economy. Kabakaburi, an Amerindian village located in the Upper Pomeroon River in the Pomeroon- Supenaam District, had in the past depended heavily on logging but this dependency dwindled when the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) issued a ceased order, bringing a halt to all the lumbering activities there.

Simon told the Natural Resources Minister that as Toshao, he has requested a map of the village to bring an end to the issue of demarcation which is the root cause of the problem. GFC had argued that Kabakaburi was harvesting lumber from outside its boundaries.
“Residents are fully aware of the village’s boundaries, but having the Land Map would put the issue to rest,” he emphasized, noting that matter is also before the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC). GLSC is responsible for the release of the map. Simon said as the village awaits the release of the map, over 200 fathers remain jobless and incapable of providing for their families at a time when the country is preparing for the new academic year.

Another Toshao, Paul Piere from Kwebanna Village in Region One, disclosed that in June 2017, the village council received a letter from the Guyana Forestry Commission indicating that the council has an outstanding fine of $2.1M.
This fine, Piere posited, dates back to 2010, and is also hampering logging activities there as well. “I think it is unfair for the present council to be burden with a fine that dates back to 2010. And we now got to find $2.1M to pay that fine. We don’t have that money,” Piere posited.

In the presence of his fellow Toshaos, Piere asked for leniency.
Minister Trotman, upon hearing the concerns, stated that in the name of good governance, the Kwebanna Village Council ought to take responsibility for the acts of the past and present Councils. New Government cannot ignore the actions of the previous Governments; he emphasised but noted that in the Bible there is what is known as “temper justice with mercy.”

As such, the Natural Resources Minister noted that he is working with the Commission to “work out either waiving some of those penalties or work out a payment scheme” so as to increase production in Kwebanna.
“I am prepared to do that for you, but to say that all debts of the past will be written off because…that is not the type of good governance any of us should encourage,” he stated. GFC Commissioner James Singh, in responding to the concerns raised by Simon and Piere, acknowledged that the issues are engaging the attention of the Commission.

He noted, however, that in the case of Kabakaburi, the Commission would have indicated to the Toshao that it did not get the correct map from Lands and Surveys and a new request has been made. “We did not have the correct maps from the Lands and Surveys Commission, and when we plotted the GPS points where the trees were cut, they were, in our estimation and with the data that we had, far outside of the boundaries. That is an issue that has to be resolved by us securing the accurate map,” Singh explained.

He noted, however, there is a non-contentious area in Kabakaburi where logs can be harvested. In the case of Kwebanna, Singh noted that only a few of the fines date back to 2010. “We have checked back the files and only two of the issues were in 2010. All of them were pretty recent,” the GFC Commissioner posited, while noting that the Commission has been in constant communication with the village council on the issue. Singh posited that in all fairness, the GFC should be paid.