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Logging Companies are the only financial contributors to the LCDS
DEAR EDITOR,
The recent hype and debate has only served to strengthen the notion that Guyana is a country of “so-called experts” who believe that anything from overseas is good and any local must be bad. Case in point is the neglect of the logging industry and their apparent exclusion from the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) process.
However, if one is to take a careful look at the real situation, the logging industry has been in existence for the past 150 years and has been implementing a LCDS since then and paying revenue directly to the Government to keep the forest standing. The result is that the forest is still standing and the Government is now trying to sell the same forest again! Remember – A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
I have done some basic calculations using average figures from the Guyana Forestry Commission and have calculated that for the past 15 years alone, the logging companies have paid directly to the Government through the Guyana Forestry Commission over G$11billion. (See figures in table)
The figures represent direct payments to the Guyana Forestry Commission on behalf of the Government. It does not include employment costs, infrastructure development, other taxes, payment for services, export income etc. This is where I hope the experts and some good investigative journalists can join the debate and really explore the “new LCDS” possibilities for this country by examining what has become of the revenue already paid for the forests by the logging companies.
Some of the areas one would really like answers to are:
1. The Guyana Forestry Commission should publish its annual income and expenditure reports for the last 15 years to account for revenue collected.
2. In a LCDS era, the custodian of the forests, the GFC, presently has a large fleet of luxury gas-guzzling 4-wheel drive vehicles. Is this lavish spending really necessary and is this an example of how future LCDS income would be spent?
3. Which Ministry has financial oversight for the GFC?
4. What projects has revenue from the logging companies been spent on?
5. Can someone say what is the annual forest area being cleared by miners, farmers, etc.
6. What has Conservation International paid annually directly to the Government for the 500,000 acres conservation concession?
7. What has Iwokrama paid annually directly to the Government for the 900,000 acres conservation concession?
Until it can be proven otherwise, I would say congratulations and hats off to the logging companies. It’s time you band together and standup and be recognized. Until now, you are the only real contributors to the LCDS and are the only ones that have paid to keep the forest standing – take the initiative on the standing forest and be counted now!
Jason Brandt
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