Barama has invested over $25B in Guyana over last 20 years – CEO

Nov 04, 2011 News

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Barama Company Limited’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Clement Ooi has revealed that after being granted 1.6 million hectares of forests, the Malaysian-based company has plugged over $25B into Guyana during the last 20 years.
The company’s head was at the time addressing hundreds of workers and other invitees during a ceremony marking two decades of operations by the entity.

The ceremony which was held at Barama’s sprawling sawmilling and veneer factory operations at Buck Hall, located along the bank of the Essequibo River, saw some 35 employees being honoured for serving in excess of 15 years with the company.
Included among the invitees were bankers, regional officials and private sector representatives.
After GT&T, the company is longest foreign investor present here and the largest one in the forestry sector, handling both sawmilling and processing operations.
It has evolved into the “single largest interior road developer, and a pioneer of a sustainable management model under the consultancy of the Edinburgh Centre for Tropical Forest.”
It also has the largest wood kiln-drying facilities in this part of the region, owning one of the largest marine fleets and hiring over 1,000 workers.
According to Ooi, over $400M is being paid in taxes and fees annually, directly and indirectly by the company with local goods and services industries earning approximately $2B.
In addition to several engagements in the social arena, Barama has established over 2,200 kilometers of roads in the northwest region of Guyana, creating “massive opportunities for the hinterlands, primarily the mining sector.”
Also addressing the gathering was the People’s Progressive Party’s Presidential candidate Donald Ramotar, who promised that if elected, his government will be more than willing to work with any company that creates employment and training opportunities for its most prized assets.
He rolled out a wish-list for local businesses, which included companies taking steps to introduce more value-added products and services which will be “important for us to maximize earnings” and improving the lives of Guyanese.
According to Ramotar, he grew up in Karia Karia, a mainly farming community not far away. Buck Hall, he recalled, was mainly dense foliage which has now been transformed into a massive complex with endless possibilities on the horizon.

Accompanying Ramotar for the event was Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, whose portfolios include forestry.
According to Persaud, the PPP/C administration on taking office in 1992 had reservations on a number of deals done by the previous government, regarding the concessions and other details. However, instead of interfering, government had sought to put measures in place to protect Guyanese and ensure the country benefits.
Barama today, he said, represents an outstanding example of government’s commitment to investments and providing an “enabling environment”.
“Not only has Barama brought about changes in technology, forestry practices and value-added products with its plywood manufacturing, but there is evidence that it is constantly in a re-tooling mode,” Persaud asserted.
MORE VALUE-ADDED
However, he warned that while recognizing the role of extraction, Guyana would be more interested in downstream, value-added activities.
He assured that the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) is geared to boost the sector and would in no way hamper activities.
As a matter of fact, he noted, the operators are under-producing and not cutting enough logs in keeping with minimum requirements.
Already, Guyana’s practices in ensuring legal logging and other forestry activities are done in keeping with international best practices has grabbed the attention of the FAO, the ITTO, and other similar organizations who are using this country as a model.
The agreement with Norway for Guyana’s forest services will see US$250M with US$70M already transferred to an account. This will represent almost five-fold, the earnings of the forestry sector activities this year which is projected to earn US$45M.
President Bharrat Jagdeo and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds were scheduled to attend, but pulled out because of pressing matters.
According to officials yesterday, Barama is currently working to add another drying facility and has boosted plywood production by 50%, since suffering a major setback in October last year in which a boiler went down, forcing the company to cease operations and send home over 270 staffers.
Yesterday, the Buck Hall veneer factory was commissioned by both Minister Persaud and Ramotar, a Presidential Advisor. Veneers, peeled by machines from the Baromalli wood, are used to make the plywood sheets.
The complex includes two sawmills, the veneer factory and boilers, housing quarters and a large docking facility.
In addition to entertainment and lunch, visitors were taken on a tour of the facilities.

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