Compensation for logging transgressions allowable under the law
…Forestry Commissioner
Stabroek News, Business Supplement, Friday, February 22nd 2008
Forestry Commissioner James Singh
The monetary penalties imposed on a number of delinquent loggers by the
Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) are permissible under existing
forestry legislation and fall within the regulations of the Commission
and operators in the country's forestry sector are well aware of those
regulations, according to GFC Commissioner James Singh.
Singh was at the time responding to queries raised by a Forest
Producers Asso-ciation (FPA) source and reported in the February 15
issue of the Stabroek Business regarding the authority of the GFC to
impose the monetary penalties. The source told Stabroek Business that
there was nothing in the current legislation that guided the specific
monetary penalty imposed by the GFC.
However, Singh drew attention to existing forestry legislation which
allows "the Minister or forest officers authorised by the Minister" to
accept compensation for transgression of forestry regulations.
Last week Stabroek Business was informed by the FPA source that loggers
might move to the courts to challenge the imposition of the penalties
on the grounds that existing legislation made no provision for such
penalties. However, Singh explained that the penalties should not be
regarded as fines in the legal sense of the term but as compensatory
payments to the GFC under regulations that had previously been
discussed with the FPA and which had been approved by the Office of the
Auditor General.
According to Singh the regulations allowed the GFC to extract - in the
case of a first offence - compensation equivalent to one sixth of the
value of logs harvested under conditions that transgressed GFC
regulations. In the case of the second offence delinquent loggers were
liable for compensation equivalent to 35 per cent of the harvested
timber while the third offence carried a penalty of seizure of all
harvested timber.
Value added: Locally manufactired wooden furniture
Singh said that the imposition of compensatory payments, even at the 35
per cent, second offence rate, still allowed the delinquent loggers to
make a profit after the sale of the harvested timber.
Singh told Stabroek Business that the Commission had previously
overlooked transgressions by some logging companies and that the
current compensation demand of one sixth of the value of harvested
timber had taken no account of transgressions committed prior to 2007.
Under GFC regulations which have been in place since 2005 loggers are
required to submit to the Commission five-year forestry management
plans as well as annual operational plans for their concessions. Singh
explained that the twofold purpose of these plans was first, to ensure
the availability of harvested timber to meet market demands and,
secondly, to monitor industry adherence to the Commission's
sustainability forestry programme. Singh said that even in cases where
such plans were submitted the Commission was, in some instances,
unhappy with the submissions.
According to Singh vetting exercises carried out by the GFC last year
have revealed that some loggers were harvesting logs in excess of the
amounts stated on their annual operational plans as well as in blocks
of forest from which they had not received permission to harvest logs
by the GFC.
He said that the Commission had previously acceded to requests from
the industry for "more time" to comply with the regulations. According
to Singh in 2006 the Commission had "called in" loggers and had made
available technical officers to assist with the preparation and
submission of these plans. He added that information regarding the
submission of the documentation was also available on the Commission's
website and that at this stage there was "absolutely no justification"
for failure to comply with the requirements.
"We believe that we have made more than enough concessions and granted
the industry sufficient time to comply with the regulations and a point
had been reached where we felt that action had to be taken to
demonstrate that the Commission was serious about enforcing its
regulations."
Meanwhile Singh disclosed that a number of loggers are yet to submit
their 2008 annual forestry plans which were due since November last
year. He said that the Commission had once again decided to demonstrate
a degree of flexibility with the sector by extending the submission
period to May this year but had also decided that delinquent loggers
would not be allowed to harvest timber until their operating plans for
the current year were submitted.
GFC officials have previously told Stabroek Business that the industry
is constrained by financial problems that militate against enhancing
the efficiency of the sector. However, Singh told this newspaper that
modern forestry practices demanded that operators in the industry
"retool" their operations.
And according to Singh the GFC has moved to ensure even tighter
scrutiny of logging operations to monitor compliance with its
regulations by recruiting 50 additional staff to keep track of logging
procedures.
Guyana boasts 13.8 million hectares of forested area of which around 50
per cent has been allocated for timber harvesting.
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