Ituni residents agreed to halt the protest to highlight their concerns on forest land allocation, with the removal of the blockage on the Ituni trail to allow traffic to traverse, after a meeting was held last Wednesday with the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) to discuss their concerns and to agree on the way forward.
A release from the Government News Agency (GINA) said during the meeting the GFC addressed the residents’ concerns that the community’s burial site is included in a State Forest Permit (SFP) issued to a concessionaire, by agreeing that the Ituni cemetery will be excised from within the SFP.
GINA said the GFC had already commenced discussions with some other existing concessionaires on their possible re-location so that a SFP can then be re-allocated to the Ituni Small Loggers’ Association (ISLA) to accommodate membership expansion.
However, GINA noted that the GFC was cautious since these resources are limited, as such; ISLA should accelerate their production of value added forest products, rather than just concentrating on being a supplier of primary products.
In this way, more value and employment opportunities will be generated from a smaller volume of harvested logs.
The release said the commission reiterated that access to the resources comes with certain responsibilities such as the timely payment of all relevant fees, and maximum beneficial occupation of allocated forest lands.
It noted that the government has facilitated associations including ISLA with numerous re-payment plans to pay off indebtedness to the GFC for acreage fees, royalties, and agreed compensation for breaches committed.
According to GINA, the meeting concluded successfully with the GFC agreeing to issue a relinquished state forest permit to the Ituni Small Loggers’ Association.
