– Natural Resources Minister says

HIGHLIGHTING that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration saw the forestry sector as an important one in the country, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, said that some $350 million was invested in the sector since 2020.

The minister made these remarks during a recent press conference where he spoke of the state of the forestry sector which has seen growth from 2020 to now.
He said, “The government would have injected $350 million into the sector seeing it as very important because it’s not only about production now for the Guyana Forestry Commission but it is also monitoring and the protection of the forest too.”

Added to this, he noted that this had to be done as the forestry sector was in a dreary state when they took office, highlighting that some staff members were not paid for two years, and utilities among other things were not paid for.

However, since taking over, he stated that the role of the forestry commission has been expanded even further now to ensure that there is more monitoring and protection of the forest while, at the same time, boosting and keeping the sector viable.

Among measures that the government took to ensure that the sector was boosted, Bharrat said that VAT was taken off of equipment and machinery while fuel tax was removed to bring ease to stakeholders in the mining and logging sector.

Added to that, he indicated that the duty on 4×4 pickups has been lowered while there is currently no duty for All-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Further to this, the 10 percent tributary tax was removed even as the VAT on lubricants was introduced.

“We would have introduced the revolving fund for the forestry sector and the forest stakeholders of which several stakeholders have already benefitted from,” he added.

With the introduction of this revolving fund, the minister noted that there are a few small loggers that are still in the process of being approved as some would have encountered difficulties in relation to accessing loans.

However, he added that the ministry is committed to working with these small loggers and the banks to ensure that their needs are facilitated to ensure that they are aided to go back into production or expand their productivity.