Penalising the small man while letting the large fish go free

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Penalising the small man while letting the large fish go free
Kaieteur News, 24 August 2007

Dear Editor,

With reference to your recent reports on the intention of the Guyana
Forestry Commission (GFC) to crack down on illegalities, will the zeal
of the GFC and the Customs Administration for checking exports, as
promised by the Minister for Forestry on December 8 last year, extend
also to the much greater volumes of log shipments by Asian-owned
companies?

In 2006, 45,000 cubic metres of sawn lumber were exported but 191,000
cubic metres of unprocessed logs were declared as exported also, logs
which could have been milled in Guyana . Who has been checking on those
shipments?

It is a sideshow to penalise the small-scale Guyanese operations, and
selectively also, while letting the big fish go free.

The law must be fairly applied, especially as the losses from the
large-scale illegalities dwarf the small-scale fiddles.

Janette Bulkan