Construction industry claims that the lumber sector is failing to satisfy local demand for high-quality products are being disputed by Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud.
Last week, Chief Executive Officer of Bulkan Timber Works Howard Bulkan told Stabroek Business that the industry continues to experience a significant shortfall in the amount of lumber produced locally, a circumstance which he said was attributable to the closure of some of the country’s major sawmills. Bulkan also told this newspaper that there is no uniformity in the quality of the lumber being produced by local sawmills. “There is no consistency in the physical characteristics of the lumber being produced,” he said.
However, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, in an invited comment has challenged the claim, asserting that the quality guidelines that have been put in place by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) require local lumber yards to
