| – says company controls 627,072 hectaresGovernment has again denied that illegal logging is widespread in Guyana.Responding to an article published by Kaieteur News yesterday, taken from the environmental website Mongabay.com,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) insists that there is no circumventing of the country’s laws by any logging company, or any other forestry sector-based company.“The GFC has very robust and functional systems, procedures and guidelines which all forest sector companies are audited against; if there are any breaches to these, appropriate action is taken based on the findings of a thorough investigation and in accordance with the forest law.”Mongabay.com is one of the world’s most popular environmental science and conservation news sites with over one million visitors monthly.GFC has since dispatched a letter to John C. Cannon, the journalist that penned the article for the news site, objecting to the report.“GFC, as the Government of Guyana Agency responsible for the sustainable management of the state forest,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, informs you and the general public that this article is riddled with false accusations and misinformation; to ensure that stakeholders are provided with the undisputable facts, GFC is compelled to respond to this unprofessional article.”GFC denied that foreign corporations and Government officials are paying lip service to the agreements, as claimed by Mongabay.com. The entity referred to statements of forestry consultant, John Palmer, who said that “…companies like Bai Shan Lin (is) likely to pay bribes to key members of the country’s government to turn a blind eye to violations”.“This malicious statement is unsurprisingly, not supported by one shred of evidence.”GFC also refuted assertions that Chinese-owned, Bai Shan Lin, a company which is under the microscope for its logging activities in Guyana,Jerseys China Wholesale, is now controlling about 1.4 million hectares in Guyana.Rather, the company only has “legal access” to 627,NFL Jerseys China,072 hectares. These include 344,849 hectares as State Forest Exploratory Permits (SFEP’s). An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA); a Forest Inventory (FI), and a Business Plan have to be submitted to the satisfaction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and GFC before a Timber Sales Agreement (TSA) is granted which allows for full scale harvesting, in accordance with GFC guidelines is approved, that agency said in the statement yesterday.Bai Shan Lin also controls 274,053 hectares of Timber Sales Agreement -Joint Venture Agreements and 8,170 hectares of State Forest Permissions.GFC said that the permits, contrary to Palmer‘s claims, were not “dubiously” acquired.“GFC Board of Directors as part of its work plan holds regular meetings with stakeholder groups across the country. At these meetings, one of the major stakeholder concerns was the inadequate capacity of concessionaires (mainly locals) to beneficially occupy areas and produce sufficient quantities of logs/lumber for the local construction industry, as well as for the local added value manufacturers, and for export.”The main constraints documented by these logging companies were a lack of appropriate machinery/equipment,China Jerseys Cheap, and adequate financing.The Concessionaires themselves have proposed two short term measures to address this – GFC to allow joint venture arrangements after the requisite due diligence was done, and that it is satisfied that the joint venture had merit.It was also requested that GFC allow companies that lacked adequate and/or appropriate machinery to rent same from third parties in a structured and properly monitored/regulated manner. GFC said it approved both requests.“GFC has since facilitated both requests in accordance with the legislation and a very transparent and organized procedure.”GFC, defending Bai Shan Lin, said that the company has entered into approved joint ventures following this process. The commission pointed out that it was the loggers who resisted efforts for Guyana to totally ban exports.“They opted instead for a graduated increase in the export commission on log exports. Log exports are legitimately done in accordance with this policy.”GFC said it has impressed upon Bai Shan Lin and all other foreign and local companies, the need to accelerate meeting their stated commitments to move into adding more value.“In this regard, work will re-commence very shortly on the construction of the wood processing plant of Bai Shan Lin.”GFC also said that it had issues with the argument of the potential destructive activities that may be caused by the opening up of new roads in logging areas.“It is very hypocritical for persons to try to stifle the much regulated and environmentally conscious forest development in Guyana, yet when requested to offer economic alternatives to forest utilization, very limited support is offered.”GFC said that with the Norway US$250M agreement, it has been shown that it is possible to have sustainable forest utilization along a low carbon development pathway.“Under this pioneering partnership, Guyana is still able to pursue regulated forestry,Wholesale Jerseys, mining and other forest based activities and still have a deforestation rate that in 2013 was calculated using national level 5 m satellite resolution at 0.068 %.”This is high evidence that the systems for sustainable forest utilization are appropriate, robust and functioning. This has even been field verified by the numerous transparent and independent audits that have been done for the forestry sector in Guyana.GFC invited the journalist to visit its offices and the forest/logging operations verify that all are above board.The issue of logging was a burning one last year after questions arose over the extent of Bai Shan Lin’s operations in Guyana. There was no immediate evidence that the Chinese company was interested in opening up factories to conduct processing of raw logs, as it had committed to. |
