Minister Trotman was given the wrong portfolio

Dear Editor,

It is without a doubt that the Natural resources sector in Guyana is by far one of the more important ones. I will not contest any statement to the effect that the mining sector is facing problems. It is rather surprising however to see Minister Trotman making irresponsible and inaccurate statements about the Forestry sector recently.

Trotman has spoken about large-scale corruption in the sector on numerous occasions. He however failed to demonstrate to the Guyanese people the extent of this corruption. Where is the independent audit report? Where is the proof of this corruption? Upon listening to Trotman, I sometimes wonder if he has any clue as to what is going on in the Forestry sector.

Recently, Minister Trotman made statements to the Norwegians to the effect that Guyana is doing a fairly good job of maintaining the forest cover. He also indicated that a ban was put on the export of logs so as to curtail the large-scale cutting of logs that was previously taking place and there was a clamp down on logging done by the Chinese.

I will first like to deal with Trotman’s assertions. He indicated that we are doing a fairly good job of maintaining the forest cover but then proceeded to say that there is large scale cutting down of logs and as such, a ban was placed on export. I may be wrong; however these statements are totally contradictory. I will not dwell on the statements made by the Minister because I am of the firm belief that he is clueless. I appreciate that he is a trained lawyer who may have never had any exposure to the forestry or natural resources sector prior to May 2015.

My question at this time however is whether or not the Minister has access to previous reports and audits done on deforestation. Be reminded Editor that Guyana has been receiving payments from Norway based on its ability to keep the deforestation level at a particular level.

If Trotman was in any way familiar with same, he would know that deforestation over the last 20 years has not exceeded 0.08 per cent (this is less than 1 per cent).

Further a large percentage of that less than 1 per cent is as a result of mining activities and not forestry activities. Forest activity in Guyana is limited at a meagre 500 hectares of Guyana’s forest out of a total 12,000 hectares. This is only one of the many monitoring and verification methods utilised to ensure our forests are protected.

Editor, I am concerned for Guyana. Minister Trotman is in effect telling the independent Norwegian body that they may not have been accurate in conducting their audits and reports before giving money to Guyana in the past.

I can only hope, Editor, Guyana does not suffer as a result of Minister Trotman’s lack of knowledge and misrepresentation of the facts. The statistics are there to speak for themselves.

The manner in which investors have been harassed and ridiculed is appalling, it is unprofessional and unbecoming of us as a nation which has in the past fostered inclusion. Is this the message we want to send to our investors and the international community?

Sincerely,

Tiana David