–investor, Royal Timbers Inc., says initial investment will be made over a five-year period
A LARGE portion of land along the right bank of the Puruni River, Region Seven, could soon be the operation site for Royal Timbers Inc. (RTI), which intends to inject some US$1 million, over a five-year period, into timber harvesting and processing.
Based on a project outline seen by the Sunday Chronicle, the company will focus on producing basic materials for the construction and general infrastructure industries, which are on the rise locally, with increased public and private investments across various sectors.
“Specifically, the company seeks to be a supplier of primary and secondary timber products (logs, piles, poles and lumber products) to satisfy local and foreign customers and, at the same time, is committed to creating and maintaining a harvesting system that corresponds to the modern way in which sustainable timber is harvested,” RTI said.
The company intends to harvest logs from the concession area and will process a portion of those logs with portable sawmills. According to a further breakdown of the intended operating process, all timber produced at the operating site will be transported by trucks via the Kartabu-Puruni Road to various base camps where they will be processed using portable mills.
Timber harvesting will be guided by all applicable guidelines, codes of practices and legislations. It is estimated that RTI will harvest 22,249.46 m3 per year from 11 blocks.
To ascertain the feasibility of this operation, the company was granted a State Forest Exploratory Permit (SFEP) for an area of 107,670.54 hectares of state forests within the area.
The SFEP allows the company, inter alia, to access the area and to determine the feasibility of conducting logging operations there, subject to the interest of other stakeholders, including public agencies, other loggers, and nearby communities.
As it is now, the company is awaiting an environmental permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and State Forest Authorisation from the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).
The concession area falls within the mining District No. Four – Cuyuni Mining District, Region Seven, where the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has approved some 1,207 mining units.
“There are no Indigenous communities within (the vicinity) of the concession area. However, surrounding communities include Puruni Landing, Kumong-Kumong among others. Timber will be transferred to Iteballi, about 120 km east of the concession area. The Kartabo-Puruni Road represents the primary access route to the Kartabo Triangle and the forest concessions there,” RTI said.
Additionally, the company intends to construct and maintain a non-towered airstrip in the vicinity of its main camp to support its logging operations.
“This airstrip will also allow directors to visit the main camp area, allow for the rapid conveyance of critical supplies, such as spare parts to RTI’s operation centres and allow for rapid evacuation of ill persons to medical facilities at Bartica or Georgetown. It is hoped that this service will be extended to the wider community,” RTI related, adding that it will adopt best-practice approaches in its operations.
Those provisions and additional infrastructure will supplement those that already exist within the concession area that was previously logged by Puruni Woods (PWI).
The infrastructure in place such as trails and roads will also contribute to the reduction of the cost of production.
COMPOSITE FOREST PROJECT
Regarding its specific production plan, RTI said it intends to establish a composite forest project which would essentially involve logging and sawmilling operations as well as downstream processing.
The logging operation would include the building of secondary roads, bridges, culvert rehabilitation and/or construction and felling, bucking and skidding activities. The materials produced by the company will be sold on the local market and exported.
Royal Timbers Inc. expects to generate 10,000 m3 of high-grade lumber per annum and, so far, all its research point to an annual incremental increase in the price obtained per cubic meter of high-grade lumber.
Through its operations, the company intends to create approximately 100 direct and indirect jobs.
Forests generate almost one-third of the income of rural families in developing countries, either through monetary income or through satisfying subsistence needs.
In Guyana, output in the forestry sector expanded by 11.3 per cent last year, reflecting higher demand from construction activities.
This favourable performance was mainly on account of a 27.3 per cent increase in logs of other species along with a 27.0 per cent increase in greenheart logs.
