Widespread wrongdoing in timber industry - source - dishonest forestry employees to be disciplined within days

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Widespread wrongdoing in timber industry - source
- dishonest forestry employees to be disciplined within days
Kaieteur News, 21 August 2007

By Leonard Gildarie

Forestry officials are expected to take action, within days, against a
number of dishonest staffers even as one whistleblower is claiming
widespread wrongdoing within the timber industry.

Yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, who is in charge of
forestry, confirmed that action is being taken. And James Singh, head
of the Guyana Forestry Commission, disclosed that the investigations
are nearing an end, with the alleged guilty staffers to be written to
very shortly about their involvement.

The investigation's end may come as soon as Friday, said Singh. The
police have not been involved, and actions by criminal investigators
are not being ruled out.

Late last month, GFC admitted that it had evidence to suggest that some
of its workers were involved in illegal acts with exporters.

Threatening to take the necessary actions against its staffers, the
body which controls logging also said, in an issued statement, that it
will go after the guilty businesses which collaborate with its
employees. While declining to give figures about how many staffers may
face discipline, Singh noted that a few more issues have to be ironed
out before dealing with the staffers.

Meanwhile, a former senior official in the timber industry admitted
that there were a large number of rackets being run with staffers of
GFC being in league with sawmills. Many of these involved specifically
forestry rangers. In the interior, it is not unknown for loggers to cut
timber without having a concession.

Had the right procedures been followed, then, obviously, the system
would have caught the illegal logs while they are being transported
out. However, the source claimed, all the loggers have to do is pay a
ranger for obtaining a permit for the truck to proceed. So the
government is robbed of its taxes. In this particular case, the trucks
normally transport at nights along the East Bank Demerara roads to
escape detection.

All logs being transported out of the interior have to be tagged, with
GFC's approval. Some of these tags are forged, disclosed the source.

However, Commissioner Singh, yesterday, was of the opinion that even if
this happened it was not widespread. “I can tell you that while no
system is 100% (foolproof), our system is designed to pick up instances
like these. As a matter of fact, I would say it is extremely difficult
to forge these tags, which carry sequential numbers. We would pick up
on any such thing.”

Providing more details into the alleged irregularities, the source said
that there were instances when in return for allowing logs to pass the
checkpoints without payments to the government's coffers, GFC officials
would, in return, receive dressed lumber either for themselves,
families or friends.

“It stinks all the way from the interior,” said the source.

To be able to log, operators must apply to GFC and be granted a
concession, in which there are boundaries the operators cannot
overstep. The reality is that it is a widespread custom to rent out a
concession, a direct violation of forestry regulations, the source
said.

In the statement last month, GFC had urged exporters to adhere to
well-publicized procedures regarding taking logs out of Guyana . These
include a license and a grading certificate from the timber grader.