15th March 16, 2007Akawini Village Council Press Release
Akawini Village Forest Resources under Siege by Logging Company
We the residents of the Akawini Amerindian Village, Pomeroon in Region 2 are facing
the destruction and loss of our forest resources that has sustained our people for
generations.
We are faced with this situation ever since the day that we signed an agreement with a
logging company by the name of Interior Wood Products Incorporated (IWPI). The
representative of this company, namely Basdeo Singh told us in 2004 that he wanted to
enter into an agreement with our village to harvest logs. He showed us a draft agreement
which he said had the blessings of the Minister of Amerindian Affairs. Also present at this
meeting was Peter Persaud who clamed to represent the Amerindian people, Luvindra
Sukraj who said that he was a representative of the Guyana Forestry Commision, GFC,
Wesley Bell, a Region 2 RDC representative and Lloyd Perreira, Community
Development Officer, CDO Region 2 who said that he was representing the Ministry. The
village agreed to sign the agreement based on the representation made to us by the
officials present. We were placed into groups and given about five minutes to study the
agreement though we did not understand the legal language in the agreement.
Shortly after this meeting and the signing of the agreement the Minister of Amerindian
Affairs (MoAA) sent the Council a letter stating that she had never seen the agreement
that Basdeo Singh claimed had her approval. The Minister also made contact with GFC
who said that they also had never seen that agreement. Then in July 2005 Basdeo Singh
came to our Village again, this time he was accompanied by OvidWilliams of the MoAA.
They said that they had brought an amended version of the first agreement.
At this meeting we told Basdeo Singh that he had lied to us the first time and we do not
trust him and therefore we would not sign any agreement. He threatened us that if we did
not sign the agreement he would go ahead and work with the old agreement and the
royalties would be paid directly to the MoAA. He also threatened to take the Village
Council to court. Ovid Williams at this time also strongly stated that if we did not sign
the agreement then it meant that we did not respect his office and that of the Minister.
Only because of the circumstances under which we were placed we signed the agreement.
This, we regret to this day as the livelihood of our people is now threatened.
As soon as the agreement was signed we saw heavy duty machinery such as bulldozers,
logging trucks and excavators come onto our village lands. After some time we learnt that
the heavy duty machinery belonged to Barama Company and that Basdeo Singh took a
sub-contact with Barama Company. This he did without consulting with the Council as
required by the agreement. When we confronted Mr. Singh to obtain a copy of the subcontract
he promised to send one but he never did. It seems to us that Barama company
which is fully operating in village lands is being sheltered by IWPI.
Small scale loggers mainly villagers were stopped from logging by IWPI by means of an
injunction and GFC tags and removal permits are withheld from the village and given to
IWPI only. These tags and permits allow us to cut and ship logs and now that we are
unable to do so many people have no means of income and cannot provide for most of
their basic needs. The Council is also affected since no royalty comes from the small
scale loggers. Even the royalty from IWPI the Council does not receive, as this is
withheld by the MoAA.
We are calling on the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, The President, The Government
and the citizens of Guyana to support us in our efforts to end this agreement which was
negotiated with us in bad faith. We ask that the State do all in its power to protect our
rights as individuals, as a community and as Indigenous Peoples.
The Akawini Village Council.
Rainforest communities campaign against Malaysian Samling Group
3 April 2007
MEDIA RELEASE, BRUNO MANSER FONDS, BASEL / SWITZERLAND
Rainforest communities campaign against Malaysian Samling Group
Protests against logging on native lands in Sarawak and Guyana
Indigenous people living in tropical rainforests in Malaysia and Guyana are stepping up the
campaign against the Samling group, one of Malaysia´s leading timber companies.
In Malaysia, four nomadic and semi-nomadic Penan communities living on the Limbang river in the
North of the state of Sarawak launched a joint appeal to the international public. They urge Credit
Suisse, HSBC and Macquarie Securities, the three banks who have sponsored Samling´s recent
public listing, to stop supporting the timber giant.
"Samling is destroying our last remaining rainforest in the Upper Limbang", headman Awing Tubai
said on behalf of the Penan communities. "We need clean water for drinking and fishing and intact
forests where we can gather our food and other forest products." Samling has already logged large
areas of primary tropical forests in the Upper Limbang river area, close to the Batu Lawi, a
mountain which the Penan consider to be holy. The appeal against the loggers is endorsed by the
communities of Long Nyakit, Long Peresek, Long Adang and Long Keneng.
In the South American state of Guyana, the Akawini Amerindian Village asked the Government for
support to end an agreement with a Samling-subsidiary, which was negotiated with them in bad
faith. In July 2005, the community was made to sign an agreement which favoured a shelter
company for the Guyanese Samling subsidiary Barama Co. Ltd. "As soon as the agreement was
signed we saw heavy duty machinery such as bulldozers, logging trucks and excavators come onto
our village lands. After some time we learnt that the heay-duty machinery belonged to Barama
Company", the Akawini village council stated.
In a press statement, the Akawini Village Council said that the villagers were threatened they would
be taken to court unless they signed an agreement allowing logging on their lands. "Only because of
the circumstances under which we were placed we signed the agreement. This, we regret to this day
as the livelihood of our people is now threatened." The Amerindians fear the destruction and loss of
their forest resources through the Samling subsidiary´s activities.
The Samling Group holds 1,6 million hectares of tropical forest concessions in Guyana and 1,4
million hectares in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. On the occasion of its public listing at the Hong
Kong stock exchange, 37 organisations from 18 countries asked investors and banks to shun the
company for its failure to comply with basic environmental and social standards.
For more information, please contact us:
Bruno Manser Fonds
Heuberg 25
4051 Basel / Switzerland
www.bmf.ch
Tel. +41 61 261 94 74
info@bmf.ch
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