Friday, August 31, 2007

Why Guyana National Certification Standard not completed?

Why Guyana National Certification Standard not completed?
Guyana Chronicle, 31 August 2007

I constantly read articles in the letters column and in the past I paid
a lot of attention to the letters written by one Janet Bulkan who
seemed to be exposing a lot of bad practices in the forestry sector and
pointing out the shortcomings of the GFC and government.

I was therefore pleased again when I saw the article by Mrs. Bulkan,
indicating that Demerara Timbers Limited was clandestinely acquired by
Bai Shan Lin, because I felt good that such wrongdoings were no longer
being swept under the carpet, but were being actively exposed by
champions such as Janet Bulkan.

To my surprise and amazement, I read the very next day, the rebuttal by
The Chief Executive Officer of Demerara Timbers Limited that the story
reported by Mrs. Bulkan is fictional rather than factual.

How it is that someone who is pursuing a doctoral degree can try to
misinform and hoodwink the Guyanese public. In the past whenever the
GFC made a rebuttal of Balkan’s allegations, I was unimpressed because
I saw it just as a lame defense.I now, however, will have to give
credibility to the responses of the GFC since it is unacceptable that
Mrs. Bulkan can write such erroneous statements. The least she could
have done was to contact the GFC for some clarification, but bent on
mischief making, she chooses to make the news, rather than report it,
she chooses to sensationalize issues in her apparent goal of mud
slinging at the GFC.

I also understand that Mrs. Bulkan was once a very senior scientist of
the Iwokrama program. Could she elaborate on the success stories of
herself and the other high priced “scientists”? Could she tell us why
the Guyana National Certification Standard is still to be completed? I
seem to recall that she was once the chairperson of that initiative.
The responses to these questions may make for interesting reading,
which hopefully, will be factual for once.
Chris Simpson

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