Solomon Islands forestry minister wants early resumption of logging
Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific,
Text of report by Radio New Zealand International on 10th July
July 10, 2000
Solomon Islands' new forestry minister, Tommy Chan, wants logging businesses to resume operations as soon as possible to help restore the country's economy. The logging companies scaled back their activities after the previous government placed restrictions on the quantity of trees they could harvest, and also because of the ethnic unrest. Solomon Islands had relied on receipts from logging to boost the economy through the late 1980s and early to mid 90s, with timber contributing up to 50 per cent of the country's foreign income.
Mr Chan, who operated a logging company on Guadalcanal before the ethnic tension began nearly two years ago, says the country is broke and earnings from logging are vital to save the economy.