AFC raises concerns regarding Forestry Bill

Guyana Chronicle news item, 12 October 2007

http://www.guyanachronicle.com/news.html
AFC raises concerns regarding Forestry Bill
THE Alliance For Change (AFC) said it has welcomed the decision by
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud to send the contentious Forestry Bill to
a Special Select Committee of Parliament for review and to benefit from the
contributions of stakeholders.
The AFC, in a statement yesterday, said after reviewing the Forestry Bill #
21 of 2007, it has "serious concerns and reservations about many aspects of
the Bill".
Article 36 of the Constitution states - "In the interest of present and
future generations, the state will protect and make rational use of its
land, mineral and water resources, as well as its fauna and flora, and will
take all appropriate measures to conserve and improve the environment."
The AFC also alluded to the fact that the forest resources of Guyana are "an
important component of this nation's patrimony".
As such, its conservation and protection would only be best secured when the
Government fully recognizes the real values derived from forest products,
environmental services and the accrued social benefits of these resources
primarily to Guyanese, in the pursuit of sustainable development and the
alleviation of poverty, the AFC contended.
It said this fundamental premise is the basis upon which the current
administration must provide a policy and legal framework for the
strengthening of institutions and the enforcement of laws for the
management, conservation and sustainable development of Guyana's land and
forest resources.
"One of the specific concerns of importance at this time is that almost the
whole of Guyana's forest estate has already been allocated for timber
production (and) the National Forest Policy identifies forest lands not only
for production, but state areas must be set aside for protection, for
conversion, and for conservation," the AFC stated.
The party also claimed that the Forest Bill has made no provision that
ensures that important aspect of land and forest resources management is
enshrined in law.
Another concern, it said, relates to the 1996 Exploratory Lease legislation
which was proposed and supported by the Government and approved in
Parliament.
According to the AFC, "this ensured that due diligence had to be conducted
on forest sector investors before any decision was made on the issuing of a
Timber Sales Agreement".
The AFC said it is "for these and other reasons that would be detailed
later", that it "wishes to associate itself with a Petition that it would
present to the National Assembly when reconvened, on behalf of all concerned
and patriotic Guyanese".