Amerindian groups call on Barama to cease Akawini logging

Stabroek News

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56520903

Amerindian groups call on Barama to cease Akawini logging
Thursday, May 24th 2007

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) and the Guyanese Organisation
of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) are calling on Barama Company Limited and
Interior Woods Products Limited (IWPI) to immediately cease all logging
operations in the titled lands of Akawini Amerindian Village in
Pomeroon Region 2.

A release from the two groups said yesterday that Barama began logging
in Akawini in February 2006 "ostensibly" on a subcontract it signed
with the IWPI. According to Akawini Toshao, David Wilson, the Akawini
Village Council has never seen this subcontract "and we were never
consulted before IWP entered into this subcontract with Barama."

Barama was contacted by Stabroek News for a comment yesterday but up to
press time there was no response.

Akawini has a timber harvesting and sales agreement with IWPI which
expressly states that IWPI could only engage the services of a sub
contractor after consulting the holder, namely the Akawini Village
Council.

The press release said that the Village General Meeting (VGM) of
Akawini which is the highest decision making forum for the village
under the law took a decision on February 28, 2007 to terminate the
IWPI agreement because of alleged breaches by the IWPI. The Village
Council has since March of this year written to IWPI informing the
company of the decision of the VGM to end the agreement. The council
has to date received no response and the logging continues unabated. In
the agreement between IWPI and Akawini, the release said, the postal
address of IWPI is a home address and it has no stated telephone or fax
number or email address.

"In reality, IWPI is a faceless company which strongly suggests that it
is a shell or front company of Barama," the release said.

In early May, the APA represented by David James, attorney-at-law and
Toshao David Wilson were invited by Swiss NGOs Bruno Manser Fonds and
Society for Threatened Peoples to meet with officials of Credit Suisse
and Samling Global Group of Malaysia.

The release said that at the meeting in Zurich, James and Wilson
informed the officials of Credit Suisse and Samling that Barama through
its purported subcontract with IWPI, is unsustainably logging the last
remaining forest of the Akawini Village and in the process threatens
the livelihood and violates the rights of indigenous people living
there.

At the Zurich meeting, according to the release, Cheryl Yong,
Communications Manager of Samling said that 55 persons from Akawini
were employed with Barama. Toshao Wilson categorically refuted this and
said that there are fewer than 12 persons employed by Barama who work
for $17,000 a month. He also told the meeting that Barama/IWPI harvest
over 20 different species of hardwood in Akawini and that Yong stated
Barama only cuts peeler logs which have no commercial value to locals.

According to the release, Barama's April 2007 production report in
Akawini shows that 92 pieces of Purple Heart, 31 pieces of Mora, 60
pieces of Locust, 44 pieces of Kabucalli and 92 pieces of Bulletwood
amounting to 1,587 cubic metres of hardwood were harvested.

The APA and GOIP are calling on the Government of Guyana to protect the
rights of the indigenous peoples of Guyana and in particular the people
of Akawini.