Cash-strapped Forestry Commission’s Board, reps to meet Trotman tomorrow

Aug 04, 2019 News

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, is set to meet with the Board and workers’ representatives of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) tomorrow to discuss pay and other issues.

Minister Raphael Trotman

The Commission has been struggling to pay salaries with Government ordering an assessment earlier this year of the operations to determine the way forward.
The Commission, which regulates the forestry sector, has been calling for financial assistance, after facing falling revenues and more monitoring responsibilities.
Last week, a letter surfaced from a staffer outlining difficulties facing the commission with staffers complaining bitterly of paying mortgages late and unable to pay bills.
It was announced by Trotman on Friday that GFC’s sister entity, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, will benefit from salary increases because of their performance.
Contacted yesterday on the situation at GFC, Trotman explained that what would have happened was that the GGMC workers wrote asking to be able to benefit from the government’s increase, which came in at the beginning of the year.

GFC’s Chair, Jocelyn Dow

The Ministry of Finance said yes.
“I thought it was an increase but it is really them benefitting them the government’s increase to public servants…I had to get permission. I couldn’t just apply for them. So as far as Forestry is concerned, however, they have met some challenges.”
He disclosed that he will be meeting with members of the Board, union and workers reps and other unions tomorrow to look at how the entity can be assisted.
“Forestry has found itself in a bit of a situation- caught between two worlds. On one hand, it is being more stringent on conservation. We took back all the lands from Bai Shan Lin. By taking back those lands, it had an impact. The impact of course is revenue.
“We also set aside two million hectares of forest for conservation because the President (David Granger) has made a pledge. So that means that there’s less forest for conservation and more work.”
According to Trotman, another problem was that there is a slowdown in the Asian market, further exacerbating the cash situation of GFC.
“GFC had advanced $600M into NICIL to buy that building that is the old radio station (on High Street). So having advancing that $600M, it damaged the Forestry Commission. The Commission was made to cough up monies that it never got back, that it never got any compensation for,” Trotman explained.
The Minister disclosed that the developments had all combined to put a strain on GFC.
“We actually applied for a part of the ¬¬Norway fund. Because the work is done by the Forestry Commission to ensure that our cut for the year is below the agreement with Norway and we have been getting high marks for our works. We believe that some of the monies that were paid over, a percentage of it should come to the Forestry Commission.”
According to Trotman, the GFC has evolved into more of a forestry regulator and a conserver of forest- less of commercial activity and more of an oversight body.”
The Minister acknowledged that despite the challenges, forestry has been doing an excellent job and this needs to be celebrated as well.
Yesterday, Chair of the GFC, Jocelyn Dow, confirmed that a meeting is set for tomorrow.
She said that a statement will come after.
Forestry had been a big earner for the economy with a 2010 deal with Norway for US$250M bringing tougher scrutiny for the sector.

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