Dear Editor,
I refer to your article `Pure Hogwash – businessman challenges Ramotar on lack of value-added processing’ [SN April 25] and wish to make a few comments.
Firstly I corrected the president that neither the GMSA (Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association) nor I am advocating for an immediate total ban on the export of logs. Our recommendation was that any foreign investor in the timber sector must process locally some of their log production. For example, they can be allowed to export 60 % in year 1, 50 % in year 2 and this percentage to be decreased every year until year 10 when all log production must be processed locally. The PPP in every one of their election manifestoes and in every publicized policy statement as well trumpets the absolute need for value-added processing. Thus PPP campaign statements now to the effect that a ban on log exports is undesirable contradicts their own previous promises and articulated policy statements.
Not that the PPP has ever abided by any of its promises. The excuse given by the former junior minister and now senior minister of forestry together with the commissioner of forests has been that these foreign investors need cash to run their businesses to justify giving them permission to export logs. But this defies all commercial sense. Are we to understand that these companies are coming from abroad to invest here but with no cash? Not that that explanation is credible, for although these companies claimed not to have cash to run their businesses, they had enough cash to buy logs from all and sundry throughout the country and export same on a weekly basis. Unrestrained and unregulated log exports is simply squandering the patrimony of all Guyanese for a few pennies.
Secondly the President responded to me at this recent luncheon saying: “I don’t agree with you. I don’t think the Asians have more tariff concessions than locals, the playing field is level as far as I am aware and no foreign company should have any advantage over another”. If the President actually believes this hogwash, then he is badly misinformed by his minister of forests. I will give one example for now. Over the years my companies [both in value-added production] have imported several logging trucks. We have had to pay the custom duties on all except the last two and only because of the personal intervention of the minister of finance, Mr. Ashni Singh. All our applications were vetted and recommended by Go-Invest but were refused by the Guyana Revenue Authority. On the contrary however, hundreds of trucks including sand trucks imported by Bai Shan Lin have been granted duty-free exemptions.
The highest cost in a timber operation is fuel. Any company that gets a tariff concession for duty free fuel immediately gets an advantage making the playing field uneven. It is alleged that Bai Shan Lin enjoys this concession among all other concessions still unknown.
Finally I recommended to our president of the GMSA that our next meeting with the head of the state should be a round table discussion with his excellency, minister of finance and manufacturers. No fanfare. No frills, no camera men for photo ops. A serious discussion.
Yours faithfully,
Howard Bulkan
