The Office of the President (OP) is expected to announce tomorrow when the long-awaited re-opening of the wildlife trade would take effect and shed some light on the new organisational structure for the management of the sector.
Wildlife exporters have been waiting for the announcement as the trade closed since the end of December last year, impacting heavily on their livelihood.
OP’s permanent secretary, Jennifer Webster, could not be contacted at her office yesterday when this newspaper made several attempts to find out what progress was being made.
OP had held a meeting with wildlife exporters on May 29 to officially announce that OP would be directly responsible for the management of the trade and to discuss the changes being made. The concerns of the exporters were also taken on board at the meeting.
The members of the advisory committee being set up by OP are also expected to be announced by tomorrow. Two members have already been selected.
They are Political Adviser to the President, Kellowan Lall, and former head of the wildlife unit in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Karen Pilgrim.
OP had acknowledged that there was a lack of expertise to manage the trade and this was the main reason for its reorganisation.
The wildlife division formerly fell under the Environmental Protection Agency. The division was rocked by scandal recently when a probe uncovered that funds were being embezzled. An officer of the division is currently before the magistrates’ court to answer charges.
Contacted yesterday, exporters expressed appreciation for the move underway by government to re-open the trade.
One exporter pointed out that animals, particularly birds, were being smuggled into Suriname during this closed season.
The exporters, and the country as a whole, the exporter said, were losing revenue and foreign exchange because the smugglers supply the Suriname exporters who competed on the same market as Guyana, therefore supplying the same clients.
It was noted that the laws of Guyana did not prevent the indigenous peoples from trapping when trading was closed and they would have to find buyers to earn their livelihood.
Another exporter felt that if given more time the wildlife trade could contribute more significantly to the foreign exchange earnings for Guyana.
Wildlife exporter and experienced animal handler, Lawrence Vansertima, said another positive for the trade was the ripple effect it had on other sectors like farming.
He said that some 90% of the corn produced in Guyana was supplied to the wildlife trade.
Fruits are another main ingredient of the trade and Vansertima said the farmers also suffered when the trade was closed for extended periods.
Another plus for the exporters is that the current administration of the trade is open to the proposal of captive breeding which was not encouraged in the past. Some countries like the United States require specific species to be a product of captive breeding before approval is given for its importation.
Vansertima stated that if captive breeding is approved, Guyana would be able to compete in an extended market.
Another exporter declared that with captive breeding it was easier to monitor a species as against capturing it from the wild, not knowing how the balance in the eco-system would be affected. "We are seeing some positive signs from this administration on captive breeding and we expect them to favour it," the exporter said.