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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Suriname,
Logging Concessions Move Forward
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
2/16/96
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
The
World Rainforest Movement reports on the massive increase in
logging
about to commence in Suriname, South America.
The most
recent
contract "grants the Malaysian company, Berjaya Sdn. Bhd.,
a one
million hectare concession in the eastern part of Suriname,
is
being fiercely opposed by the indigenous and Maroon peoples who
inhabit
the interior of the country."
Appeals for protest faxes
are
made. This item was posted in econet's
rainfor.general
conference.
g.b.
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/**
rainfor.genera: 148.0 **/
**
Topic: SURINAME: LOGGING CONCESSION ACTION **
**
Written 5:32 PM Feb 16, 1996 by gn:wrm in cdp:rainfor.genera
**
From:
Forest Peoples Programme <wrm>
Subject:
SURINAME: LOGGING CONCESSION ACTION NEEDED
______________________________________________________________
WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
_____________________________________________________________
URGENT
ACTION 16 February 1996
SURINAME: LOGGING THREAT GROWS
AGAIN
ONCE
MORE THE HAND-OUT OF LOGGING CONCESSIONS IN SURINAME LOOKS
IMMINENT.
LOCAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' ORGANISATIONS ARE ASKING FOR
INTERNATIONAL
SUPPORT IN THEIR APPEALS TO GOVERNMENT TO FIRST
RECOGNISE
THEIR LAND RIGHTS.
After
months of deliberations, the Surinamese Government's
special
commission reviewing draft contracts granting several
huge
logging concessions to foreign companies has finally
submitted
one contract to the National Assembly for approval.
The
contract, which allegedly grants the Malaysian company,
Berjaya
Sdn. Bhd. a one million hectare concession in the eastern
part of
Suriname, is being fiercely opposed by the indigenous and
Maroon
peoples who inhabit the interior of the country.
The
interior peoples are dissatisfied that the Government
continues
to give priority to foreign companies while it refuses
to
honour promises made to them in 1992 to recognise their rights
to
their ancestral territories.
The
contract was passed through to the Assembly in mid-January
but in
view of the opposition in the interior the Assembly chose
not to
accept it immediately and asked for two weeks to consult
with
the leaders of the local peoples in the concession area. On
Feruary
6, the Assembly demanded a further extension as the local
leaders
had forcefully expressed their opposition to the
contract.
Fierce debate now rages in the capital, Paramaribo,
over
whether the concession should be granted. Domestic timber
companies
have also expressed opposition to the contract since
they
claim Berjaya will be granted fiscal benefits that the local
sawmills
do not enjoy, thus making them uncompetitive.
Berjaya
claims that it has already invested US$20 million in
Suriname
and has expressed considerable impatience over the
delays.
However, in response to objections raised by the Maroon
and
Indigenous leaders, the company has also stated that it will
not log
areas where the local communities are opposed to its
presence.
A Berjaya spokesperson has been quoted in the press as
stating
that if the forest communities in eastern Suriname are
opposed
to the logging they would prefer to be granted a
concession
further west, perhaps in the area initially slated for
the
Indonesian transnational Suri-Atlantic which appears to have
withdrawn
its bid for the forests south of Apura.
The
Berjaya company has been embroiled in equally heavy
controversy
in the Solomon Islands. Last year, after being
accused
of bribing government officials and then getting caught
up in a
land dispute with the indigenous communities, the company
pulled
out and embarked all its machinery for South America. It
is
uncertain whether this plant will be sent to Suriname or
neighbouring
Guyana, where Berjaya has already secured control
of an
existing but unexploited concession previously granted to
local
companies UNAMCO and Case Timbers.
Meanwhile
the Indonesian logging company MUSA, which has been
operating
in Suriname for several years, has also become
embroiled
in a land dispute with a local plantation owner having
expanded
its milling operations far beyond the small 50 hectare
site it
had acquired. Even after a judge concluded that 90% of
MUSA's
activities at the site were outside its legal holding,
MUSA
refused to pay compensation, leading the courts to seize the
company's
machinery, buildings, land and lumber.
The
controversy over foreign loggers has gained significance as
Suriname
is to hold general elections in only four months.
Opposition
members of parliament are contesting the concessions
as they
would present any incoming government with an
uncomfortable
'fait accompli.' Efforts to secure the votes of the
interior
communities in the upcoming elections have raised the
political
temperature.
At the
end of January, local human rights, indigenous and
environmental
organisations placed a full page advertisement in
the
national press opposing the concession as politically
irresponsible,
economically unprofitable, environmentally ruinous
and as
an affront to the rights of the interior peoples. They
have
called on the Government to: postpone the granting of the
concession;
legalise the granting of land rights; provide
educational,
health and social services in the interior; involve
the
local communities in future decision-making; and strengthen
the
capacity of government to regulate the timber industry.
ACTION
The
Maroon and Indigenous organisations are demanding that their
territorial
rights should be fully and legally recognised and
effectively
secured before any concessions are granted in the
interior.
They also demand that they be fully involved in
negotiations
with the companies and allowed to represent
themselves
through their own institutions.
The
indigenous organisations have asked for international support
for
their appeals to Government and invite you to send supportive
faxes
urging the Government to delay the hand-out of logging
concessions
until the territorial rights of the indigenous and
Maroon
peoples are secured.
SEND FAXES TO:
PRESIDENT RONALD VENETIAAN : +597
475266
CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, JAGGERNATH
LACHMON: +597 410364
PLEASE SEND COPIES OF ANY FAXES SENT
TO:
OIS FAX: 597 479480
For
further information contact: Forest Peoples Programme,
8
Chapel Row, Chadlington, OX7 3NA,
England
Tel:
01608 676691 Fax: +44 1608 676743 Email: wrm@gn.apc.org
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