http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56533318Frankly Speaking By A.A. Fenty
Barama, Bulkan and Bharrat - then corn curls, cowheels and Condoleezza
Stabroek News, Friday, November 16th 2007
A few weeks ago, I had conceded that I, and quite a few thousands of
other adult Guyanese, I suspect, paid little attention to issues
related to one of our "most huge" natural resources - our vast forests.
My generation, especially the coastlander majority who hardly venture
into the country's "interior" did have a passing familiarity with
certain names who would reap the rewards from their "grants" or
concessions. The symbols of forestry benefits would be sawmillers and
lumberyards with names such as Toolsie Persaud, Sawh, Willems,
Mahazarally and the old DTL.
Way past my teens now, I can wonder how much regulation, monitoring and
desirable management/governance of the nation's forests were applied in
those days. And the species of wood deemed suitable for commercial
export purposes were not as varied as now. We knew greenheart,
purpleheart, silverballi, crabwood and a few others, which our
carpenters and cabinetmakers required.
Like gold and diamond mining and large-scale fishing and shrimping, the
exploitation of and profit from Guyana's forests were left to a select
few with the wherewithal, the sense of wealth and the shrewd
understanding of what is "sustainable" and what is not. Then came
Barama!
So because of all the recent dramatic developments in the sector, I use
today's piece to provoke your thought(s) - and interest.
Barama
I have had cause to read the scores of letters to the press with
respect to Barama's presence and role in the forestry sector and the
numerous related issues. I also had reason to delve into the analyses,
exposes and conclusions, believe me. However, as is usual with my
layman's mind, I'll eschew any attempt at profundity. Rather just
contemplate the basics - as Guyanese patriot and concerned citizen and
taxpayer.
Barama Company Limited (BCL) came here in 1991 when President Hoyte was
at the helm. Barama was given a mighty large swath of the 4,911,000
hectares of our forests which are allocated for commercial use.
Added to that bonanza of a virgin natural resource, it was given
various concessions at the start and during its 16 years here so far.
Note right away that since 1992, of course, the range of generous
concessions was granted by successive PPP/C governments.
Barama is now owned by Samling Global Limited, originally from Sarawak,
Malaysia. Now you must know that Samling has developed into a giant of
a company in the world's forest resources, in Cambodia, Papua New
Guinea, China and New Zealand.
Realise therefore, that Barama is part of a multi-national big-player
in the international field of forestry and the exploitation of
resources.
I have accessed Barama's defence of all it does and has done. Barama
could point to all it has done and is doing for the national economy
and for hinterland communities even as it exports non-traditional
species such as Baramali to manufacture its famous plywood. It points
to its increasing employment - some 1,500 Guyanese including the
subsidized use of 250 once-out-of-work Lindeners. Chairman Girwar
Laleram and new CEO Mr Ho will readily reveal the millions and millions
deposited in Guyana's coffers but I'll spare you the statistics.
Suffice it to say, in relative simplicity, that Barama has indeed
contributed to our national upkeep most significantly. It has gone
where others did not dare to tread. It has empowered certain Amerindian
communities and groups - including two particular gentlemen - with
funds never dreamt of before. But obviously, like others before and
still around, apparently Barama has been no angel, with regard to its
practices, procedures and financial statistics the country - through
the Forestry Commission - needed to know about.
What's new, cynics may ask. It's for the Forestry Commission to
pronounce on all aspects of Barama's presence in our forests - as they
have done recently. Sub-leasing, landlordism, third-party concessions -
or exploitation are charges levelled against the Malaysian-owned
company. But any Amerindian schoolgirl would tell you that Barama could
not be guilty of all those sins - and the recent findings - without
official collusion and complicity.
I therefore leave this portion with two observations: there needs to be
a through examination of the capability, and culpability, of the Guyana
Forestry Commission and, Frankly Speaking, it is doubtful whether
another financially-able sector investor would rush in if Barama
leaves.
Remember, it is now the largest single investor in our forestry sector.
Not yet even utilising most of the 1.6 million hectares it acquired.
Bulkan
I agree that any company controlling such a vast reserve of our natural
resources must always be under sharp, experienced and expert scrutiny.
Laws, regulations or not they are making money from our birthright,
entitled by agreement, as they are to do.
That's why I recognize the worth of Ms Janette Bulkan, the feisty
campaigner who is a doctoral candidate at the School of Forestry and
Environment Studies at Yale University. Her curriculum vitae reveals
her status and validity to do what she does best. According to one
Stabroek News editorial: "In what has virtually been a one-woman
campaign Ms Janette Bulkan has brought to public attention the fact
that this country has not been earning the kind of revenue it could and
should from the timber industry. In a series of articles in the Sunday
Stabroek under the rubric of Dr Clive Thomas's 'Guyana and the wider
world' column and in a number of letters, some of them responding to
criticisms from those who disagreed with her views, Ms Bulkan has
argued mainly but not only that two many logs are being exported with
no value added. In other words, we are remaining primary producers, as
we have been of sugar for centuries.
"In the course of the debate it has become obvious that the local
timber industry is under-capitalised and not competitive, a condition
that is no doubt at least in part attributable to those long years from
the seventies in which the private sector was marginalized and under
continued threat of expropriation. So bad has the situation become that
some companies have sub-contracted Barama, which enjoys special tax
concessions to run some of their grants. And Barama has been exporting
large quantities of logs from their own and other grants to lucrative
markets overseas."
Yes, to some, especially her disgruntled detractors, Bulkan has been a
thorn in the sides of Barama, the Forestry Commission and the Minister
of Forestry.
Actually, the lady has caused a paper to be circulated amongst the
world's leading authorities on forest management. Titled "Lazy days at
international banks", it "exposes" how Credit Suisse and HSBC support
illegal logging and unsustainable timber harvesting by Samling/Barama
in Guyana - and possible reforms". (Credit Suisse and HSBC are two of
the three international banks, which underwrote the IPO - Initial
Public Offering - on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange of Samling Global
Limited, the transnational forest products company. The banks are
reputable and responsible. Bulkan infers that, in the case of Barama,
they have been "lazy".)
Bulkan's paper is replete with the number and scope of Barama's alleged
sins and illegalities in the exploitation of Guyana's forests. I
suspect that she was also behind a group of Amerindian representatives
journeying to a European capital to prosecute the case against Barama,
which she prepared.
Ms Bulkan is from a family long in the downstream end of forest
products manufacture in Guyana.
The names "Bulkan" and "Precision" have been Caribbean winners and
achievers. That's why I am going to avoid Chairman Laleram's
allegations that the Bulkans begged to be part of Barama, or that they
have gone into the area which Barama was recently "vacated from", to
exploit the locust when purpleheart acquisitions became problematic.
Acrimony should be avoided.
Say! Could Janette Bulkan ever sit down with Barama? Or with Minister
of Forestry Bharrat J?
Bharrat
Since I'm merely provoking you to think more pointedly about the who,
what, where and how regarding the use -- or exploitation -- of our vast
forests, and since my allocated space is used up, I am going to direct
your attention to the recent "doings" of our Minister of Forestry,
President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Whatever encouragements, he might have offered Barama in bygone days;
the President has obviously had a re-think. To me, President Jagdeo
wants one of his post-presidency legacies to be that of a leader who,
godfather-like, did his bit to battle global warming, climate-change
and the stifling of the lungs of the earth. Like President Hoyte, he
has offered up most of our virgin forests "in long-term service of the
world's battle against climate charge". This offer is to be considered
in Bali, Indonesia shortly.
Noble as it appears, on the face of it, I expect a heated debate on who
authorized the President to offer up so much of our patrimony?
Compensation from preservation of the rainforests in poor countries is
now emerging as a hot international issue. You have to hand it to our
Bharrat for, at least, keeping our international pot boiling.
I trust that some of you are now more seized with the need to become
interested in such issues. Even from the layman/citizen perspective.
Until…
What, "Blood Diamonds" in Guyana!
Corncurls,
cowheels - and
Condoleezza
Cricket legend, former West Indies bowler Reverend Wes Hall revealed,
last Friday, that he never did exercises in any gymnasium. He ran five
miles in the mornings and evenings.
And his nutrition, which led to superb, injury-free fitness, had to do
with his grandmother's cowheel soup and tripe menus. Said the witty
Wes: "You can't eat corncurls and bowl fast. Besides cowheel soup, I
had rice in all forms! Seasoned rice, peas and rice, meat and rice.
Man, if Condoleezza was around in those days, we'd probably have her
too."
'Til Next Week!
