Barama forced to pull out of Akawini

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56521291


Barama forced to pull out of Akawini
-villagers demand compensation, or will take legal action
By Johann Earle
Wednesday, May 30th 2007

The signs say it all

Barama Company Limited yesterday announced that it would begin to
demobilise its equipment and close its St Monica/Akawini operation
following a decision by the Akawini Village Council that the company
and its sub-contractor must go.

The Village Council has, for the past several weeks, appealed for help
saying that it was being taken advantage of and treated unfairly. The
Amerindian Peoples' Association (APA) and the Guyanese Organisation of
Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) had, on behalf of the people of Akawini,
called on Barama and its sub-contractor Interior Woods Products Inc
(IWPI) to cease all logging operations in the titled lands.

The council holds the view that Barama, which has a sub-contract to
harvest on behalf of IWPI, is also complicit in the bad arrangement.
Officials of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and IWPI were
noticeably absent from the meeting, held at the Akawini Primary School
yesterday.

Several persons holding placards met the Barama team at Akawini
protesting the contractual arrangement and calling for Barama and IWPI
to go.

General Manager of Barama Girwar Lalaram said at a meeting at Akawini
yesterday that since the Akawini Village Council was holding fast to
its position without giving a hearing to the company, he was left with
no choice but to bring all operations to a close.

The village also accused Barama and IWPI of logging hardwoods in
addition to the peeler logs used to make plywood. But an official from
the company said that it logged "mostly" peeler logs, acknowledging
that some hardwoods were cut, but to a lesser degree.

Further, the Village Council read out a list of demands to Barama.
These included compensation for every log taken and for monies owed to
workers. Compensation for degradation to ecosystems supporting wildlife
and for loss of traditional way of life was also requested.

The Village Council said that if these demands were not met then legal
action would follow.

Before he announced the end of operations, Lalaram had said that Barama
would never attempt to cheat residents or deny them what is supposed to
be delivered to them. He said if the residents wished, Barama would
deliver on the promises made by the IWPI. According to Lalaram, IWPI
was supposed to complete some social activities in the areas of health,
education and recreation. "What IWPI has failed to do, Barama commits
itself to delivering," Lalaram said to the villagers. "If the captain
tells me what was promised, I will deliver them within a short time,"
he added.

According to Lalaram, at a Village Council meeting last Friday, the
villagers had decided that they wanted to work out an arrangement with
Barama, leaving IWPI out of the deal.

Lalaram said he was told that 54 people from the village and
surrounding areas were employed by Barama and he insisted that people
work in camps other then the one in St Monica, near Akawini. "I am also
willing to make the investment in those people in the two villages…
to train them to work for Barama," Lalaram said.

The APA and GOIP said in their joint release some days ago that workers
were very poorly paid, some earning as little as $17,000 per month.

In response, Lalaram said: "On wages and salaries, I expect that Barama
will not pay any person below the national minimum wage." He said too
that overtime would be given to anyone who worked outside regular
hours, as well as lunch allowances. He said the company would comply
with all labour regulations.

"I stand firm, we will have nothing to do with IWPI. If the people
decide that they don't want IWPI, then IWPI is out. I am willing to
remodel the agreement between the community and Barama to reflect
certain social commitments. I will provide to the children of Akawini
and St Monica two computers, whether Barama continues to operate or
not."

Toshao of Akawini, David Wilson asked Lalaram how long he knew of the
company IWPI. Lalaram responded that he was not involved in the initial
arrangement with IWPI and the Akawini Village Council. But he said he
had checked at the Deeds Registry and found that the company was
registered with two named directors.

Wilson said the Akawini Village Council had never seen the subcontract
"and we were never consulted before IWPI entered into this subcontract
with Barama."

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 Village General Meeting of Akawini took a decision on February 28,
2007 to terminate the IWPI agreement because of alleged breaches.

The council said it wrote to the IWPI in March informing the company of
the decision to end the agreement; no response was received.

Lalaram said the door was still open for negotiations on possible
arrangements, but he decried the confrontational stance by the Akawini
Village Council. He said Barama would issue a full press statement on
the Akawini issue.