Dear Editor,
Please allow me a small space in your newspaper so I can voice my concerns and the concerns of many of my friends who are operating in the forestry sector in Guyana. Over the months there were countless letters by concerned citizens in the different newspapers of Guyana talking about the challenges facing the forestry sector in Guyana.
These challenges range from what is taking place internally at the Guyana Forestry Commission and what is happening in the forests. Almost all of these concerns went unnoticed by this Government. It has reached a stage where the concerned citizen of Guyana has no place to voice their concern.
Many of my friends in the forestry sector would have written letters to Minister Trotman and the Chairwoman of the Forestry Board, concerning many problems but to date have not received a reply. I myself attended many meetings in Kwakwani where there are a number of problems being faced by citizens, however, Minister Trotman just sat, listened and used his famous line “I will take note of your concerns and investigate.” To date, there has been no action or solution to our problems. What has been observed is that after many of these meeting, the Minister and his team are seen socialising with the same people guilty of and involved in many forestry wrongdoings.
Editor, forestry in Guyana is in a mess. We the poor people living in the forest suffer daily and only the rich are getting richer. They are the ones who can pay their way through the forestry system. This clearly shows this Government does not care about our forest and the role it plays towards national development. It is so heartbreaking to hear the talk of sustainable forest management, and good forest governance being a big joke on the streets of Guyana. Today, we as loggers can see the lawlessness which has been going on in our forests and at the places where forestry operations are being carried out (sawmill, lumber, export ports, etc).
Before this Government came into power, forestry in Guyana was so highly praised. Now I realise the system then allowed for everyone to be able to make an honest living from the forest, and also respect the laws of Guyana. Today what we are seeing is that the one who can pay their way or who is well acquainted with someone in Government or the GFC Board can do what they want in the forest.
Editor, right now there is a lot of talk on the streets about the Forestry Commission giving out more forest concessions before election. Persons are saying those forests lands are already air marked for individuals and companies who are friends of this Government or friends of members of the Forestry Board and persons in high office in the Forestry Commission.
We the poor hard-working loggers think this is unfair and we should be given equal opportunities to have access to these newly available forest areas. In order to understand our concerns l would like to highlight these few points and ask a few questions so our readers can understand our situation:
1. The forest area identified for allocation before the election in March was supposedly taken back by the Government from big investors. Maybe the areas were taken back to give to their friends.
2. There are noticeable changes to the requirements for forest area. These changes were made by the Forestry Board. Maybe to justify their bias allocation approval at the end of February.
3. The areas will not be advertised for one month as per the norm over the years by the Forestry Commission. Maybe a rush for time to allocate the areas to chosen people before the election in March.
4. Can the Minister and Cabinet legally allocate any State forest areas before the election in March, knowing there is no Parliament in Guyana?
5. Are international bodies like DFID, EU, FAO, ITTO, etc who would have provided millions to the Guyana Forestry Commission to help develop good sustainable forests management system and support good governance in Guyana forestry sector going to sit back and remain quiet whilst the biggest fraud in the history of Guyana forestry sector is happening?
6. Are the NGOs in Guyana going to sit back and watch corruption and lack of transparency in the Forestry Commission?
7. Is this what Norway is supporting in Guyana?
As a small logger living in Kwakwani who voted in 2015 for this Government, I will never again be persuaded to vote for them due to the mass destruction of the forestry sector. In closing, I am calling on all the honest hard-working staff of the Forestry Commission and law-abiding stakeholders to reject the fraud which is ongoing at the Forestry Commission. The Guyana forest belongs to all and not a chosen few. No forest area should be distributed before elections.
Sincerely,
Terrence Nedd
