Bai Shan Lin saga… Owed Kwebana loggers must make formal complaint to Ministry - Dharamlall

Bai Shan Lin saga… Owed Kwebana loggers must make formal complaint to Ministry – Dharamlall

Aug 30, 2014 News

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Nigel Dharamlall

Those Kwebana residents who claim that they are owed millions by Chinese logging company Bai Shan Lin, have made no such complaints to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, which would have led to the matter being resolved.
At least this is according to Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Nigel Dharamlall.
He told this publication yesterday that the Ministry has a Welfare Department that would address issues such as the report published by this newspaper recently; suggesting that several of the members of the community were owned millions by Bai Shan Lin.
As a matter of fact, the Permanent Secretary was surprised at the report saying that the subject Minister, Pauline Sukhai, would visit the Kwebana community on numerous occasions and this matter has never been raised.
According to Dharamlall, neither the loggers in the community nor its Toshao has ever made a complaint to either the Ministry or any of its officials.
He said that the Ministry, through the Welfare Department, has on many occasions in the past successfully addressed issues where Amerindians have provided labour to companies and found it difficult to access payment.
According to Dharamlall, those persons now making complaints to the media over being owed monies by Bai Shan Lin, should lodge formal complaints with the Ministry.
Bai Shan Lin harvests logs through what authorities say is a joint venture with Kwebana Woods, a company that has a Timber Sales Agreement (TSA) that allows it to harvest for export in commercial quantities.
Many of the workers employed by Bai Shan Lin through this joint venture arrangement, are claiming that they are owed a combined total of millions of dollars.
“They tell me that I must give them the service and I must work for plenty, plenty money and they would pay me the money, but when the time reach for I come home now, no money,” said Andrew Brescenio, one of the owed workers.
Apart from the exploitation of the workers at Kwebana, when Bai Shan Lin entered the community, the company reportedly bluntly refused to draw up an agreement. This was revealed by Toshao Godfrey Wilson.
According to Wilson, the company wanted to use the village as a thoroughfare to take out its logs. The village asked for a monthly toll of $1.5 million. The company refused, Wilson said.
He said Bai Shan Lin offered to buy the logs the community harvests. Wilson said the village agreed, but Bai Shan Lin wanted to set the payment terms. The village refused, because the price that was offered was below what was deemed reasonable by the villagers.
The village depends on its community forestry operation. Most of the residents are employed in the processing of the logs, which are then sold as building material to companies on the Coast.