Govt. to split Barama concessions into four blocks

Apr 21, 2017 News

…international companies, small loggers to benefit

Government announced last month that it will be redistributing the forestry lands which were allocated to Barama Company Limited. However, the 1.6M hectares of land will not be redistributed as a single block but rather

Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman

will be divided into four blocks.
This clarification was made by Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman on Wednesday while making a presentation to the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources in Parliament’s Chambers.
Trotman who was with Minister within the Ministry, Simona Broomes, and other Ministry officials were requested by the Committee to make presentations on the oil and gas sector, Bai Shan Lin and mining syndicates.
During his presentation, Trotman said that Barama had communicated to government in October last year that it will be giving up its forestry concessions but will concentrate its efforts on plywood and veneer manufacturing and sawmilling operations.
Following the company’s announcement, Trotman said that a number of Expressions of Interest have been received for the concession. However, he said, “We will not be giving out the 1.6 million hectares en bloc any longer; we have cut it into four; one will be held reserved for conservation, one will be held for small loggers and two have been advertised for international companies.”
He said that so far, 17 Expressions of Interest have been received. According to him, Government hopes to complete the review of these proposals at the end of this month.
Barama, a Malaysian-owned company, has been in Guyana for 25 years. Before leaving the forestry sector, the company was negotiating with the government for a new investment agreement.
The company had expressed its regret at having to close its forest concession after 25 years and having invested about $45B to develop Guyana’s forestry sector. According to Barama, it had concluded that it is no longer viable to continue its forestry operations.
Speaking more on the forestry sector, Trotman said that last year, Guyana earned US$38M which represented a decline of 15 per cent relative to the sector’s performance in 2015. He said that this decrease was due to a slowdown in the Asian economy in addition to the withdrawal of Barama and the removal of Bai Shan Lin from the forest.
He said that Bai Shan Lin had two concessions, both of which have expired and Government chose not to renew them. Those concessions had amounted to 180,000 hectares, the Minister said.
“Those have not been renewed; Bai Shan Lin had also entered into joint ventures with five other companies. We have since repossessed the lands because those joint ventures have not been approved according to law. So at present there is no activity involving Bai Shan Lin or any of its associates in the forest.”
The Chinese company had been scrutinised for failing to develop a processing plant and not paying fees, among other issues. Trotman had noted that the company was still in arrears with the Guyana Forestry Commission.
The Minister reported that the forest previously owned by Bai Shan Lin is currently being held in abeyance and has not redistributed them because the China Development Bank which underwritten Bai Shan Lin has asked Government to be given an opportunity to find new finances to recapitalise the loans given to the company.
“So, those concessions remain intact and are not being worked at this time.”
Trotman said that currently, his Ministry is actively pursuing the allocation of forestry concessions to small logging associations. He said that last December, government gave out 69 of those concessions for active use in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Ten.

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