Dear Editor,
Guyana has the most beautiful and durable species of wood in the world. Yet our population at large has little appreciation of this fact. For a long period of time the general home builders were only aware of three species which is greenheart, purpleheart and kabukalli out of the vast plethora of wood species that we have to offer. If the question was posed to them what is wamara or a sample was shown, their familiarity was far less to non-existent.
In recent days the media and whomever are benefiting from the attack and misinformation on the forestry industry and foreign investors over one species of wood, are being reckless and are damaging the Region 10 economy and the country at large. Over the past 2-3 years countless individuals and associations have benefited from the high demand for wamara. This has provided a strong chain of events in which the first and vital link has been bringing much needed capital investment into their operation which leads to the ability to purchase extracting equipment which facilitates another link to associations and individuals venturing out on their own and demanding a higher price for their produce. All the while, this is raising the standard and quality of life for many people.
Among the various species of wood, we must understand that wamara in its beauty and strength proves to be a very difficult wood for our local sawmillers to produce as value-added lumber. The recovery is in the range of 20-30% per cubic meter (m3). For example 21m3of processed lumber that fits in a 40ft container will take approximately 70m3 of wamara logs for the set volume. There’s no way that anyone can make a sustainable profit or stay in business by just processing this species of wood. Guyana does not have the technology and equipment to make this valuable way forward at this present time.
We cannot jump to conclusions without getting to the nitty-gritty of how the industry functions on a wide scale. For example the ship that was reported by a newspaper as transporting logs actually belongs to another Chinese company that is separate from Bai Shan Lin. This particular company has done an immense job on infrastructure work in partnership with various logging associations from Region 10 which was spearheaded by a Deputy Commissioner of Forestry. For example, in a short five-month span the Unamco Road which previously would take 3-4 days to truck produce out is now one of the best interior all weather roadways in the country. A regular road user can now have access up to 110km with a regular sedan.
The infamous quote that those to whom much is given, much is expected’. There was the great gold rush, and this is our wood rush. Rather than utilizing precious time to fly over and take pictures of various log stockpiles in several locations in Region 10, the investigators should hold a forum where stakeholders can give their insights into the logging industry. This would be more valuable than making assumptions and falsifying information for the sale of newspapers. We are loggers; if you venture into our domain you will see logs.
I can vouch for myself and other stakeholders in stating we welcome foreign investors once we have fair market value for our produce and our business partnership is done within the confines of the law and blessed by the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Yours faithfully,
Dane Ault
MAC Enterprise
