The reason for the poor state of our economy

Jun 06, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor;
The recent article which was published in the Friday, June 03 edition of Kaieteur News quoted Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman that the “Forestry ban was just and necessary” It is just another smoke screen to justify the current slump in the economy.
It is true the forest sector is not performing as it should, but it’s not due to the ban on the exportation of logs, it’s mainly due to the lack of uptake of forest produce by the construction and housing sector.
While the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Natural Resources and the rest of the government are denying that the economy is sluggish, there is a decline in the construction and housing sector. Hence, the returns reduced in the forest sector.
It would interesting to get from the banking sector how many new loans were approved for the housing and construction sectors of the past year compared to the previous year.
For reference I quote:”The Finance Ministry admitted that the low production levels resulted from Government’s temporary ban on timber exports. In a previous interview with this newspaper, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had said that the forestry sector’s performance for 2015 was disappointing. “This sector had one of the hardest hits in recent times. We expected it to pick up, but it did not.”
On the other hand, Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, insists that the ban was “just and necessary”. He admitted that forestry production fell short of expectations, but he refrained from expressing that the industry performed “poorly”.
How can the Minister of Finance associate low production levels as a result of the ban on timber exports? Mr. Editor, I am confident there are thousands of cubic metres of logs at various log depots, stock yard and sawmills.
Production is at a standstill because the economy has slowed and forest produced is not being utilized as usual by the housing and construction sector as compared to the previous years. I am confident that there is adequate production, the Minister need to consult with the relevant agencies and stakeholders before making irrational statements.
I therefore suggest that the Ministers and the Government need to first admit the economy has slowed and is under performing and then go about fixing. Being in denial will not change nor improve our country’s circumstance. Let us all see the change that was promised.
Christine Cadogan

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