Promising not to export logs and to establish the “largest wood-processing factory in Guyana” as well as introduce “advanced wood processing technology” and an eventual move to forest certification, Chinese company Bai Shan Lin introduced itself to Guyanese in 2007 beginning a rapid rise that seven years later, encompasses several sectors even as its failed to live up to many of its commitments.
Officially, the controversial company currently controls 627,072 hectares of forest but in the past, it has had links with several logging companies and in 2012, stated that it controls over 960,000 hectares of forest in Guyana, a claim that until last month was not denied by the authorities despite being widely reported. Further, since 2008, the company, according to data from the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), has exported 35, 832 cubic metres of logs despite the company being banned from exporting logs in 2007 by then Minister of Agriculture and now Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud.
It is not clear when the ban was lifted and Persaud has not responded to multiple requests by Stabroek News for
