Upper Berbice group granted forestry leases
Stabroek News
March 16, 2003
Three State Forest Permissions (SFPs) were handed over to the Upper Berbice Forest Producers' Association on Thursday, and chairman of the association, Oswald Hartman, said that these would provide employment for many persons in the area.
After addressing members of the association at the Kwakwani Workers Club, Minister Satyadeow Sawh, under whose purview forestry falls, made the presentation to the association.
Sawh made a visit to the area accompanied by Director of the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Dr Oudho Homenauth and General Manager of the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC), Nizam Hassan among other officials.
The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) had been mandated to find ways of assisting residents of the area who had been retrenched from the bauxite industry.
The Upper Berbice Forest Producers Association comprises 110 members from Kwakwani, Ituni and surrounding areas.
The SFPs are valid until the end of the year. They are renewable on an annual basis depending on whether or not the association adheres to certain conditions.
The concessions are located on the left bank of the Corentyne river, the right bank of the Kuruduni river and the left bank of the Bissaruni river/right bank of the Hurakabra creek.
Two other concessions which would have an area of approximately 5,691 hectares are to be awarded later. Documentation for the issuance of these additional leases is being finalised.
Present at the handing over was GFC Commissioner James Singh, who said that all members of the association were expected to benefit in an equitable manner from the concessions, which have a total area of 11,674 hectares and a total maximum allowable cut of 3,151.93 cubic metres. The commissioner also advised that the per hectare maximum allowable cut was 20 cubic metres.
With all concessions in place, each association member is expected to earn about $40,000 per month, based on the monthly maximum allowable cut. This was arrived at after an economic analysis had been undertaken by the commission.
Singh further recommended that the association's executive should have regular meetings so that members would know what was required of them. Monitors from the commission would be making visits to ensure that records were kept, Singh said. The GFC would be willing to work with persons with a view to clarifying the Code of Practice which required that they comply with minimum environmental standards.
Hartman said that the leases granted would provide employment for persons in the area. He pledged his association's commitment to making the venture a success and called on all the members of the association to work together to further develop the area.
Minister Sawh told the gathering that in the past, foreign companies had the majority of the concessions, and while this created jobs for Guyanese, the wealth did not necessarily remain in the country. He stressed that the rest of Guyana would be looking at the association to see how well it carried out its side of the bargain. Sawh called the awarding of the concessions "one way of empowering people." He added that with such empowerment came responsibility. "There is no scope for a dictatorial approach to the leases. There is no scope for unaccountability and there is no scope for illegality." (Johann Earle)
