Why does Mr Chris Simpson accept the denial of S.K. Chan of Demerara

Why does Mr Chris Simpson accept the denial of S.K. Chan of Demerara
Guyana Chronicle, 3 September 2007
http://www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%2003-09
-07.html#Anchor--------------10593

Timbers Ltd. that DTL has been acquired by Bai Shan Lin (‘Why Guyana
National Certification Standard not completed? Guyana Chronicle, August
31, 2007) while not extending equal credence to the confirmation by Bai
Shan Lin's Administrative Manager and Site Manager that Bai Shan Lin
had acquired DTL?

What Mr. S.K. Chan said was that “DTL has a Technical Assistance
Management Agreement with Bai Shan Lin.”

This is another instance of landlording which is illegal, without
explicit Presidential approval under Guyana’s forest law. Condition 13
of Timber Sales Agreements states:

"The grantee shall not transfer, sublet, mortgage or otherwise dispose
of any interest arising under this agreement except in accordance with
the Forest Regulations and any purported disposition made except in
accordance with such regulations shall be null and void."

Chris Simpson needs to note that Condition 13 refers to “any
interest”. No doubt the Ministry of Home Affairs will be checking to
ensure that Bai Shan Lin is not and will not be replacing or displacing
any Guyanese employees of DTL with foreign workers.

Our President has since indicated that he did not give his approval for
this transfer of interest(s) under DTL’s Technical Assistance
Management Agreement with Bai Shan Lin.Luckily for Guyana, President
Jagdeo has instructed the GFC to investigate this transfer of
interest(s), and has not put the word of an Asian logger above Guyana’s
forest law.

“President Bharrat Jagdeo says that the transfer of any assets of
Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) to Chinese forest company Bai Shan Lin
has to meet strict due diligence before garnering approval and this he
made clear to the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC)."I made it clear
that the GFC [must] be involved:¦ this is not an automatic process," he
said yesterday at a press conference at the

Office of the President. He added that the GFC would have to establish
the track record of the companies and do the necessary due diligence
before deciding on anything final. He said that the issue was discussed
in Cabinet” (Transfer of assets between forest companies must meet
approvals –Jagdeo. Stabroek News, Tuesday, August 28, 2007).

Chris Simpson also wants to know why the Guyana National Standard for
Forest Certification is not yet complete. I was elected the first
Chairperson of the Guyana National Initiative for Forest Certification
(GNIFC) in February 2003, and participated in Working Group and
standard development meetings from 2000 to 2003. Unfortunately I never
had the pleasure of meeting one Chris Simpson at any of those meetings
but through your columns, I’d like to inform him that I resigned as
Chairperson of the GNIFC four years ago, in August 2003, when I left
Guyana to take up a scholarship for doctoral study at Yale University.

Janette Bulkan