Dear Editor,
I have just read a slew of letters and thought it would be a good thing to respond to those by Mr. Muburak Kazan and Mr Mendes.
First, I can just guess that Mr. Kazan is one of our younger generation who is not aware of the damage done to our society by the leadership and political players since the early 1950s. Yes, the PPP and its underling, the PNC, tore apart our once satisfied nation of people. About the means of exporting timber and the thought of extra security and customs. Does anyone know that not one of the nation’s departments is functioning properly?
The Forest Department was the nation’s top civil service unit which was responsible for total development.
It had well educated and trained staff to carry out their functions and they were supported with the necessary transportation to get around, especially since part of the work was the nation’s intelligence and high security. Yes, it was the only department covering the entire nation and I was happy to travel every square mile from border to border.
I have made inspections of all the divisions in recent years and even spoken to some of the staff and it is pathetic to learn that there is hardly any means of transport.
Each division had a cabin cruiser, a land rover, several inboard launches and outboard boats. Timbers were exported after staffers measured each log as it was loaded onto the ship and royalties were paid. Forestry covered every aspect of this programme and today there is no means for the staff, as untrained as they are, to get around to do the work that is necessary. Does anyone know that all of Guyana is a forest and highly trained people have to carry out the function of developing the nation before any other department?
This department is now considered a commission with a commissioner. I can almost guarantee that not even the commissioner has covered the square mileage that makes up this grand nation let alone knows what we have in resources. How many of the entire staff know as many as 200 of the 2,067 species of saleable timber that we registered up to 1963?
We did a hard but wonderful job of researching our timbers, mineral resources, flora and fauna, planting foreign timbers and reforesting our utilized areas. None of these areas has been covered since independence.
The commissioner may have a degree but how much has he done to learn of the tropical forests and jungles which come under his domain?
Yours faithfully,
George Jackson
