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BaiShanLin has absolutely no presence in Guyana – Trotman

Jan 26, 2018 News

BaiShanLin Forest Development Inc. is no longer operating in Guyana. This is according to Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman. The Minister made the assertion during a brief interview following a press conference the Ministry hosted yesterday.
During the press conference, Trotman said that there has been some good news in the forestry sector. He announced that there has been a revised production rate for logging and it is now at the 345,000m3.
When Trotman made his contributions to the 2018 National Budget Debates, he said that in 2017, the forest sector faced several challenges inclusive of a lower domestic demand, lower prices for tropical timber products and a general contracting of international markets. Trotman said that in spite of these challenges the 2017 production levels and exports were expected to be approximately 320,000m3 and US$40M respectively.
The revised production as announced by Trotman yesterday will mean more revenues for the sector. Trotman even said that the revised production levels can increase the economic growth for 2017. Also, the Minister said that figures of production are still being compiled by the GFC and in the end they can be higher.
Speaking more about forestry after the press conference, Trotman said that he continues to see overall improvements. He said that Guyana has received a “very good” report on monitoring and verification from the Kingdom of Norway.
Asked about BaiShanLin, the Minister said, “We are not aware that BaiShanLin has any operations ongoing.”
Early last year, the Chinese Development Bank (CDB) asked Guyana not to give out lands once held by BaiShanLin.
The total size of the concession lands held by BaiShanLin amounted to 680,000 hectares, including joint ventures. The five joint ventures that BaiShanLin had illegally entered into with local companies were also revoked and the lands seized.
Last year, Trotman said that the government was left with little choice than to act sternly with BaiShanLin since in addition to the national outcry over some of the company’s practices; it had also racked up debts for which it could not pay. “We could not allow a company to remain active in a forest and not be paying royalties and fees for the concessions.”
Yesterday, Trotman said that the lands seized from BaiShanLin still have not been given out, “but BaiShanLin has ceased operations in Guyana.”
Asked if the company has any intention to return to Guyana and resume operations, Trotman said, “I can’t speak for them and their future plans.”

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