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Forstry commission clamps down on concessions to force compliance

Dec 28, 2019 News

The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) has taken a decision to re-examine concessions allotted to companies, to ensure compliance with their contractual obligations.
According to a “Fact Sheet” on Guyana’s forests, released by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Forestry Commission’s Board has undertaken a comprehensive effort to scrutinise concessions granted whilst “providing support to ensure that concessionaires are fulfilling contractual obligation.”
The Commission, in an effort to clamp down on concessions and refute claims that a significant percent of the large concessions were given to foreigners, had begun to examine the operations of multiple large concession holders to ensure that they are adhering to regulations and that commitments made in contractual agreements are being honoured.
However, just a few weeks ago, GFC awarded two new concessions to the Ituni Small Loggers Association (ISLA).
Commissioner of Forestry, James Singh, had previously stated that to ensure transparency in the distribution of forestry lands, concessions are advertised one month before the opening of interest. Concurrently, the Commission’s forestry production has remained under 400,000m3 for three consecutive years.
The lowest production was recorded in 2016 (353,500m3), followed by 2017 (377,100m3) and 2018 (385,700m3). GFC blamed the lower production volume on the fact that a significant amount of forest hectares belonging to Barama Company Ltd had been restored to unallocated state forest.
Recently, some two million hectares of forest area were restored to unallocated state forests, including that of the Barama Company Ltd which voluntarily relinquished its concessions. The Malaysian-owned company, which had been operating in Guyana for over 25 years had announced plans to cut back operations and has reportedly given up its 1.6 million hectares.
The company, in a paid advertisement, announced that it will not be seeking the renewal or extension of its Forest Concession Agreement with Government.
Following the scandal involving Chinese investor, BaiShanLin, which received large tracts of state forests but failed to open processing facilities in keeping with its contractual agreements, there has been a tightening up of systems.
Through transactions called “joint ventures”, BaiShanLin acquired Puruni Woods- 107,671 hectares; Kwebanna Wood Products Inc.-87,361 hectares; Sherwood Forest Inc. – 167,075 hectares; Woods Association Industries Co Limited- 26,076 hectares and other concessions- all totally over 600,000 hectares.
The Ministry indicated that it remains steadfast in its commitment that has been underscored in the revised National Forest Policy 2018.
GFC is the regulatory body charged with overseeing the forestry sector; however, in recent years, there have been criticisms concerning the management that of the industry with little or no enforcement to ensure compliance to investment agreements by the companies.
Some of the compliance includes the construction of value-added processing to create local jobs.

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