Forestry Commission says 'effective monitoring' led to breaches probe

Forestry Commission says 'effective monitoring' led to breaches probe
Stabroek News, Saturday, September 29th 2007
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56529956


The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) says its "effective monitoring"
led to a probe of suspected breaches of forestry procedures and not
pressure from national and international agencies as alleged by the
Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA).

A GFC release said that the GFC is the regulatory agency responsible
for the management of Guyana's State Forest Estate. "The GFC has worked
in a committed and consultative way to develop guidelines for proper
forest management, and also provided training to stakeholders to assist
them with the implementation of these guidelines," the release said.

The GHRA said in a press release on Wednesday that Tuesday's
announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture of the internal probe into
under-pricing and false declarations of origins is an inadequate
response to allegations of irregularities taking place in the sector.

The GHRA said in its statement that two minimum conditions for the
credibility of the investigations were the suspension of Commissioner
of Forests James Singh and the appointment of independent
investigators. According to the GHRA, the investigation was prompted
from increasing external pressure from national and international
agencies and activists outraged by the irresponsible plundering of
Guyana's forests.

"Whilst it is the intention of the GFC that there be compliance with
the guidelines, there have been defaulters from time to time," said the
GFC in a press release on Wednesday.

The release said that the effectiveness of the GFC's control measures
is demonstrated by the fact that officers from the Monitoring and
Internal Audit Unit were able to detect suspected breaches in the GFC's
procedures at some locations. "This information was publicised by the
Ministry of Agriculture, since stakeholders have been calling on the
GFC to be more transparent and accountable," the release said.

The GFC stated that many of the statements made by the GHRA are
incorrect and "are designed to tarnish the integrity and
professionalism of the GFC." The GFC said: "One would expect that the
supposedly civil society and non-governmental organisations claiming to
have an interest in Guyana's forest resources would support the GFC in
this process, rather than engage in mud-slinging and
self-aggrandizement."

"The GFC accepts that some officers may be unprofessional in the
execution of their duties, but as an entity, the GFC is recognised
locally, regionally and internationally for the very positive and
tangible steps taken to regulate the forest sector and encourage
sustainable forest management practices," the release said.

According to the GHRA, the past decade has seen a catalogue of dubious
and illegal acts including over-logging of prime species, land-lording
of concessions, non-payment of revenues, labour exploitation of
indigenous people, reverse buy-outs disguising true ownership,
preference of foreign over Guyanese labour and the destruction of
national and Amerindian assets.