BaiShanLin trying to re-enter through the back door …Chu Hongbo link to companies seeking lands in Region Seven

Oct 16, 2016 News

-Natural Resources Minister not convinced by application made
The Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman has confirmed that Managing Director of BaiShanLin Forest Development Inc, Chu Hongbo, has close ties to a new company that has made an application to have access to prime lands in Batavia , Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Trotman made this disclosure during a press conference on Friday last. There, the Natural Resources Minister said that the company’s application has not been granted as he is of the belief that it does not meet the necessary requirements.
Trotman said, “When I became minister, I met it there (the company’s application) and I was asked to grant it on the basis of national need. I am still to be satisfied that there is national need for such a thing.”
He added, “The Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs is involved in the process and I have asked that if there are negotiations that they be transparent, above board and in the interest of the people there. I would not say that the company is being held up but I don’t believe that it meets the requirements.”
Chu Hongbo has been sitting at the helm of the controversial Chinese logging company, BaiShanLin.
Since its ten years of being in Guyana, the company has been accused of raping the nation of its forest wealth while benefitting from billions of dollars worth in concessions. It has also been accused of being involved in various cases of tax evasion.