If President Bharrat Jagdeo makes good on his threat to close the wildlife industry, it would be mainly the thousands of residents in the Amerindian communities who would suffer as a result.
Kaieteur News spoke with a few trappers yesterday, and one of them, Henry John, from the North West District, said that many villages depend solely on the trade for their livelihood.
He recalled the suffering many of his people endured when the trade was suspended in 2002 as a result of Guyana not complying with CITES requirements.
John pointed out that the communities only engage in subsistence agriculture since they cannot get market for their products. Most of them resorted to fishing when the trade was closed but this did not help.
Their market depended on people coming into the villages to buy their catch and this did not happen often.
“We were barely able to survive,” John said. “It was difficult to find three square meals for my family.”
The closure of the trade would result in the loss of jobs for the trappers, woodcutters, farmers, transporters, plyboard suppliers and exporters.
Another operator in the trade told Kaieteur News that the government has not kept its promise to provide jobs for Guyanese so it would be inconsiderate to close the trade.
“The wildlife trade was created by the Guyanese people for their own livelihood.
This was not of the government’s making. The President must consider carefully his actions before making any decision on the trade,” the operator said.
It was also pointed out that a closure now would have drastic effects on the exporters who at present have millions of dollars worth of stock. Also, many in the trade have commitments to their banks.
“What would happen to our investment?” an exporter asked. “What would we do with the animals?”
The beleaguered local wildlife trade has been embroiled in controversy over the years.
The latest is the firing of Head of the Wildlife Division, Khalawan, after an investigation found him responsible for unauthorised exports.
At the centre of the latest controversy, is Ministerial Advisor Odinga Lumumba, who exported several shipments of dolphins which the Wildlife Division said were not approved by its Board of Directors.
The exportation of the dolphins has raised questions by exporters who have been in the business for a long time.
One of them queried the criterion used to grant Lumumba a licence to export. He noted that exporters have to have years of experience and have to be qualified to enter the trade.
“But apparently this did not apply in Lumumba’s case,” the exporter said.
President Jagdeo stated on Friday that there are people operating in the trade who subvert the system for their own gain.
He warned that if this continued, he would seriously consider closing the trade down.
The question was also raised as to why Lumumba is not being held culpable in any way over the shipments of dolphins.
It was pointed out by one exporter that the value of the 25 dolphins approved to be shipped by Lumumba for this year amounted to the value of ten years of the quota of other animals approved for the exporter by the Wildlife Division.
The value of one dolphin was approved at between US$20,000 and US$30,000.
“And still, Lumumba came out of nowhere and was granted an export license,” the exporter said.
Exporters have to pay $50,000 for an exporter’s licence, $50,000 for a quarantine licence, $35,000 for a trapping licence, and $9,000 for a transport licence.
The Wildlife Division fell under the Ministry of Agriculture during the PNC administration.
When the PPPC took up office in 1992, a decision was made by the government to suspend the trade in 1993 with a view to streamlining it.
The trade was reopened in August 1995 and Government allowed people to enter the trade, which sent the number of licensed exporters up to 30.
The administration of the trade was moved to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1998.
It was during the EPA’s tenure that the trade was again suspended, this time because the government did not implement legislation to regulate the industry as required by CITES.
During this period, some $45 million went missing from the income generated by the Wildlife Division from the trade.
The administration of the trade was then taken over by the Office of the President.
Khalawan is the third head of the division to be removed from office on the basis of irregularities in administering the trade.