Barama appoints first CEO- to mount PR initiative

Barama appoints first CEO
- to mount PR initiative
Stabroek News, Monday, September 17th 2007.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56528974.

Barama Company Limited on Friday announced that Malaysian Peter Ho has
been appointed the company's first CEO to aid in sprucing up its image
in the wake of recent heavy media criticism.

Ho was introduced to members of the media during an informal meeting at
the Cara Lodge Hotel, together with members of the company's public
relations firm Hill and Knowlton.

In a press statement, the company said Ho has more than 25 years of
global experience in the oil and gas industry. The company said that in
addition to his work with the Dutch Royal Shell Group, he was more
recently General Manager of engineering and facilities at Maxis
Communications, the largest mobile telecommunications company in
Malaysia.

According to Ho, the company decided that it needed a CEO on the local
level and this person will have executive functions.

The company used to report to the Samling Group CEO Yaw Chee Ming.
Samling, a Malaysian group, is the owner of Barama Company Limited.

Ho said the decision to have a local CEO also stemmed from the fact
that the company has been on the receiving end of a lot of flak from
observers, notably civil society activist Janette Bulkan.

He said that to combat this, the company decided that someone must be
based here, who will be in touch with the local stakeholders. According
to the new CEO, Barama has earned a reputation for long-term
investments to Guyana and its people. "Similarly, I endeavour to
attract, retain and motivate staff, improve efficiency, and make this
business profitable," Ho said.

Ho said that the company wants to concentrate on being wood based. He
said that the company no longer has any interest in any other form of
extractive industry, like gold or oil. He also assured that the company
doesn't want to export logs.

The company said that it would be undertaking a more amplified public
relations initiative to repair damage to its reputation done by bad
press of late. Ho said too that the company would be placing emphasis
on its corporate social responsibility in the various communities.

The company will be putting three sawmills in Buck Hall on the
Essequibo River and these will need an additional 500 to 600 workers.
This should see some US$10 million being invested by the company.

On the suspension of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification
earlier this year, Chairman Girwar Lalaram said the company expects to
have an audit done of its operations in a bid to regain certification,
but this is not yet confirmed. According to Lalaram, the company has
just hired a consultant to perform a pre-audit exercise to make sure it
is in order for the FSC audit.

The Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) has threatened
Samling with the revocation of its 56,000 hectares of tropical forest
in the upper Baram region of Sarawak unless the company resolves a land
conflict with blockading Penang communities by November this year.