Jaling commissions US$10M vessel to transport lumber

Mar 01, 2009 News

---

…company will move more into value added activities during 2009

By Tusika Martin

Jaling Forest Industries Inc. has commissioned a US$10M ship that will transport lumber from Port Kaituma to Trinidad for onward shipment to China and other markets.
The 2,300-ton vessel, Zhongmu 1, which was built in Suriname, was commissioned on Friday last.
This is the first of two vessels being constructed, with the other expected to be completed later this year.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Minister of Agriculture with responsibilities for Forestry, Robert Persaud, welcomed the positive investment in the sector.
He pointed out that the company will have full support of the Guyana Forestry Commission, provided that they are in compliance with the relevant guidelines.
Jaling was awarded a Timber Sales Agreement in 2005 for a period of 25 years. The area is about 135,000 hectares located in the North West of Guyana, specifically the Baramita and Sebai areas.
According to Persaud, during 2008, the company invested over US$4M to upgrade its equipment and machinery.

He pointed out that he was given assurances that production during 2009 is expected to increase to about 80 percent of the total capacity, reaching full capacity in 2010.
In 2009, it is envisaged that the company will move more into value added activities with the construction of a sawmill at Port Kaituma, he noted.
Addressing the issue of the degradation of standing rainforests and incentives for sustainable forest management, Persaud told his Surinamese counterparts that Guyana firmly believes that it must share a common vision for progress with Suriname and other like-minded countries.
The Agriculture Minister pointed out that Guyana and Suriname are ‘blessed’ with considerable forests and other renewable natural resources, but face significant development challenges.
“We must therefore maximize all opportunities for collaboration.”
Guyana, he added, proposes to work assiduously with Suriname for a new post-Kyoto agreement that provides positive market based incentives for standing forest and avoided deforestation, to be submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Guyana will also continue partnering with Suriname and the international community, Persaud added, to do baseline studies, which will take both countries to a state of readiness and will allow for better negotiation of compensation.
Last year, he said, was an important year for forests as Guyana pioneered a study which assessed the true value that its forests provide locally and globally.
This study by McKinsey and Company showed that Guyana can generate at least US$580M per year if the forest is cut down and converted into other uses such as agriculture, ranching, and mining.
It was then presented internationally to lobby for the creation of incentives for avoided deforestation.
Because of this initiative, the Agriculture Minister said, Guyana is now considered a leader in the current global debate on the crucial roles of avoided deforestation and sustainably managed forests in global climate change mitigation activities.
Guyana is also one of the first fourteen countries to be formally approved as a participant in the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), looking at ways to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).
The Agriculture Minister added that Guyana is willing to provide technical support to Suriname as it seeks to become a partner in this facility.
“It is my firm belief that both of our countries understand and support the need for actions under the emerging REDD mechanism.”
It is equally important, he explained, that the REDD rules and methodologies be inclusive of a variety of national circumstances, including those countries which are highly forested and with historically low deforestation rates.
“It is therefore important that we take a united stand on key issues such as Reference Emissions Levels, Emission Reduction targets, Displacement of Emissions (Leakage), National versus Sub-national approaches, Estimating and Monitoring of both deforestation and forest degradation.”
He pointed out to his Surinamese counterparts that Guyana and Suriname must also be united as both countries call for a continuous mechanism through the UNFCCC to be operationalised in order to address issues of capacity building needed in accounting and monitoring, data collection, and analysis.
Like Suriname, Guyana supports a vision where developed countries take the lead in reducing emissions while developing countries pursue a clean development path, with adaptation as an integral element.
On December 5 last, President Bharrat Jagdeo launched Guyana’s report on ‘Creating Incentives to Avoid Deforestation.’
During the launching, the Head of State pointed out that Guyana can earn between $4.3B and $23.4B, depending on movement of commodity prices, with a most likely estimate of $5.8B, if the country aggressively pursues economically rational land use opportunities.
According to the Head of State, the country has a strong track record in sustainable forestry practices.
He added that economic pressures to increase value from forest resources in Guyana are growing.
Guyana’s report on ‘Creating Incentives to Avoid Deforestation’ was presented to the Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland.

---

---