Dear Editor
Early last week, a routine boundary surveillance at AMSL’s Buckhall logging concession unearthed a stash of illegally harvested logs and lumber in one of the company’s logging blocks at Buckhall (see pictures). However, on Sunday morning, the company’s surveillance team returned to the block with GFC Officers from Buckhall when a group of illegal loggers were caught red-handed in the act. They used chainsaws to illegally fell and rip large amounts of high value purpleheart logs into lumber, then used tractors and trailers to transport out the lumber from the area to market.
According to Mr. Ganesh Singh, who is the company’s Operations Manager, a team from his company was dispatched to the area accompanied by Officers of the Guyana Police Force. He further confirmed that three persons involved in the illegal operation were detained by the GFC and they are assisting with the investigations.
But Mr. Singh was quick to point out that the mastermind, Mr. Abdool Sattaur, a known operative in illegal logging in the AMSL’s concession for several years now, who has evaded the force of the law, was finally caught and detained with all of his equipment (Tractor, trailers and chainsaws – see pictures) which are impounded at the 70KM Police Station Buckhall Backdam. As Mr. Singh explains, it is rather bizarre that Mr. Sattaur, a holder of a State Forest Permission to legally carry out logging operations in his own blocks, would resort to stealing logs from other concession holders.
The management of AMSL is calling on the Ministry of Natural Resources and the GFC to urgently address this problem because the company claims that this problem has been ongoing for a number of years now and has been costing its operations millions of dollars in revenue losses.
Olivia Rodrigues
Assistant to the Managing Director
Air Services Ltd.
