Barama says losing sales over 'false' charges by Bulkan

Saturday, May 12th 2007
Barama Company Limited (BCL) yesterday denied a host of charges made against it by activist Janette Bulkan and said the claims had caused the company to lose sales of its plywood products.
Speaking at a press conference held yesterday at the Cara Lodge in Quamina Street, Girwar Lalaram, General Manager/Director of Barama said that Bulkan is pushing a family agenda and needs to produce the evidence to back what she is saying. Bulkan has for months been writing in the press about Asian logging companies, including Barama, pointing out deficiencies in their operations.
Lalaram said that Barama noted the recent Government action against two companies for breach of undertakings and emphasised that Barama is in no way connected with these entities, and therefore resents any attempt to link it directly or indirectly to any so-called "transgressions by Asian logging companies."
He said that the company has on hand 15,000 cubic metres of plywood without any buyers because of what Bulkan has been saying about the company, especially on the overseas front. According to Lalaram, Barama has had to hire, at great expense, an American public relations firm to attempt damage control in the wake of Bulkan's criticisms.
The General Manager said that it is against the backdrop of being a responsible corporate player in a vibrant national industry in Guyana that Barama strongly condemns "certain detractors" for making persistent and unfounded attacks against it. "Critics like Janette Bulkan have been trying at international fora to discredit Barama, tarnish the country and discourage investment in the forest sector," Lalaram said at the press conference.
He said that Bulkan is inaccurate to suggest that Barama is over-harvesting when the company in fact only harvests three trees from each hectare when allowed to harvest 20 in a 100 hectare block. "No further extraction takes place in that block for another 40 years. New trees take the place of felled logs," he said.
And he said that the company is committed to going downstream in all of its operations, stating that he had a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud where he indicated this. "Log exporting is not the way to go, however, we do not have the capacity to mill all the logs we produce," Lalaram said. He stated that the company will boost this capacity by adding another sawmill at Buck Hall and also install other equipment, including items for kiln-drying and generators.
He reiterated that the export of logs is enshrined in the agreement Barama signed with the Government of Guyana in 1991.
According to Lalaram, Bulkan's accusations of Barama hunting in the forest, logging in third party concessions, infecting Amerindians with typhoid by polluting their rivers, under-paying taxes, committing violations against the laws of Guyana and a host of other "evils" are inaccurate.
"What Bulkan omits is that her brother's company wanted to consort with Barama by inviting [Barama] to buy into 40 per cent of their company and to work with them as partners," Lalaram said.
Lalaram said that to associate Barama with corruption with Government officials warrants a response from the company and Bulkan has to produce evidence of this.
On the issue of land-lording, Lalaram said that there is nothing in the laws that prohibit this. "Barama has entered into legitimate contracts with Guyanese loggers to extract and buy lumber from their concessions. There is no law that outlaws contracts in Guyana. Barama has not taken over any lease or concessions and is not sub-leasing," he said.
He said that the company has entered into business arrangements with Guyanese counterparts to complement its species of logs for the manufacture of plywood and to satisfy export market contracts. He said that Barama is developing interlocking relations with Guyanese loggers many of whom lack the resources, technical capacity, transport infrastructure and other logistics for maximum production. "Both workers and forestry producers see Barama as a generous partner in the industry" he said.
He said that the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) process requires that these contract concessions have introduced to them controlled wood standards. He said that it is Barama's intention to do this but it must have further discussions with the Guyana Forestry Commission and the concession holders. Barama's FSC's certification was recently suspended for several breaches.
According to Lalaram, if the concessionaires were getting such a bad deal and the arrangements were not beneficial to them they would have come out in protest at the conditions under which they operate with Barama.
Barama, he said, finds malicious the charge that it is paying its workers US$2 per day and committing crimes against the indigenous peoples. He said that there is no evidence of this and Barama will continue to be a good corporate citizen committed to safe and sustainable forestry practices. "It will remain a reliable partner of the people and Government of Guyana and will fulfil all obligations and duties under the law," Lalaram said.