Amidst growing international demands to end illegal logging, Guyana is currently reviewing its system that hopefully will meet with global standards.The system will be crucial if Guyana wants to continue exporting its forest products especially to the US and Europe, both which have introduced stringent requirements to ensure that logs are cut according to accepted standards.According to the Ministry of Agriculture,NFL Jerseys China, a draft report has been presented to the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the Forest Products Development and Marketing Council (FPDMC).GFC, with support from international donors, commenced and developed a draft Legality Assurance System in 2006. The system, termed the “Guyana Legality Assurance System” (GLAS), went through several revisions with direct and indirect stakeholders.More recently in 2010, the FPDMC and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), led another stakeholder-inclusive process which led to the GLAS being formally recognized as a National Standard,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, the Ministry explained.“With the growing importance of forests and the positive strides that Guyana has made internationally on Sustainable Forest Management with great emphasis being placed on legality of forest produce,Wholesale Jerseys Online, Guyana then partnered with the US and EU to draw synergies with other legality schemes such as the US Lacey Act and the EU FLEGT Programme.”The intention was to make the GLAS internationally accepted and recognised, the Ministry said. “With this overarching objective in mind, the GFC and FPDMC,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys, with strategic guidance and policy oversight from the Minister of Agriculture with responsibility for Forests, commenced discussions with USAID/GTIS to support a review of the GLAS with this overall aim of having the GLAS meeting international standards.”USAID/GTIS made funding possible to do this review and two consultants Reinhold Glauner and Joern Ackermann were contracted. The consultants spent approximately three weeks in Guyana reviewing the document and meeting with local stakeholders, as well as conducting field and on-site visits to concessions.On Tuesday, the consultants along with USAID and GTIS representatives,NBA Jerseys China, William Gelman and Patrick Henry, met with the Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, and briefed him on the work that has been conducted to date.The draft reports and recommendations have also been presented to Persaud,Cheap Jerseys, and the GFC, FPDMC and FPA have been mandated to do an internal review of the documents.

By Jarryl BryanThe Ministry of Finance is likely to begin procuring auditors for the much anticipated forensic audit into the GRA from December 31st, after the Tax Commission Inquiry lays its interim report.Junior Minister of Finance Jaipaul SharmaThis is according to Minister within the Ministry of Finance Jaipaul Sharma, who has oversight for the forensic audits currently being undertaken into many of Guyana’s statutory bodies.“We want to coincide that audit with the conclusion of the Tax Commission Inquiry. The Commission will be looking into recommendations from the Tax Reform Committee,” he said, adding that the committee’s interim report is expected to be out by year end.In a previous publication, Sharma had stated that the GRA forensic audit and evaluation would be undertaken by international auditors. This, he had revealed, was because of the scope of the audit and the inevitable chance of conflicts of interest arising.The other forensic audits were performed by a number of independent auditors. The GRA will be the first body to have an overseas audit firm.After the submission of the report, an agency will be identified and contracted to carry out the audit by early February of 2016.According to Sharma, the time span will also allow the international auditors to get a chance to examine the report, in order to understand the depth of Guyana’s tax situation.Speaking on the Tax Commission Inquiry, Sharma said that there would have to be an in depth analysis on the tax system. This will also help in understanding how deeply tax reform can impact the economy,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, whether positively or negatively.The launching of the Tax Review Committee was first announced during Minister of Finance Winston Jordan’s budget presentation. Chaired by economist Dr. Maurice Odle, it has been operating out of the Ministry of Finance, which also provided technical assistance,Wholesale Jerseys Store, since August 2015.Its terms of reference include investigating the state of taxation,Cheap Jerseys From China, reviewing taxes with a view of reallocation and distribution, and to look into how tax was formerly administered.Specifically,China NFL Jerseys, the committee is expected to examine how taxes can be paid in an equitable manner, since there is a general perception that the system is not effective.One of the charges that Jordan had issued to the Committee was to come up with recommendations that would produce a system more fair and firm, but with rigorous legal systems in place to nab tax dodgers and cheats.Stakeholders, including the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and Chambers of Commerce,Cheap Authentic NFL Jerseys, have decried the high taxes and other shortcomings in the taxation systems for years. Though promised under the previous Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) administration,Cheap Jerseys Authentic, tax reform never came to fruition.Other stakeholders to make submissions to the committee include the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), banking and other institutions.

Residents of the mining town of linden have reacted angrily to the announcement that their electricity rates will be drastically increased to bring them on par with the rest of the country.They are convinced that the decision was taken to punish them for their rejection of the ruling PPP/C at last year’s general and regional elections.“I think the Government is using this budget to increase electricity In Linden to really sock it to us because we didn’t vote for them, because an increase that will bring us on par with other areas in Guyana would be totally unfair to us. This is a mining town, and as such we are entitled to certain concessions. Look at all the things we suffer here with the dust. Who is to compensate us for all these years of sufferation,” one Lindener observed.She lamented the medical bills that residents there have to pay,Cheap Jerseys Paypal, pointing to the fact that Lindeners suffer constantly from colds and other respiratory conditions.“Any subsidy that the Government grants us whether for electricity or any other thing, we more than deserve it”, the woman declared.Another woman who is in the catering business told this newspaper that any increase in electricity will force her to increase prices for her services.“Right now is an electric stove I using, because it is cheaper than the gas,Cheap Jerseys China, that is the only way I could keep my prices down. Now when they increase electricity,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, it means I would have to charge people more and the thing is, they already crying out with the current prices, so what you think gon happen when I increase prices.”She argued that the people of Linden are already suffering from lack of jobs and other economic opportunities and now that the Government has heaped an additional “burden on us, what will become of us?”“I think we going backwards instead of forward,Supply Cheap Jerseys, because we ain’t getting more money, the VAT remains the same and soon we got to pay increased electricity rates. I think they want to kill us. It ain’t fair.”Chairman of Region 10 Sharma Solomon said the budget has done nothing for Linden or Region 10.“Over the past decade, there has been no significant economic growth in this Region and when one considers what the budget offers, it’s an embarrassment. It doesn’t cater for single mothers or poor people. This is like strangulation for poor people. And then to remove the subsidy for electricity is saying that you’re out to chastise us.? It says you’re out to chastise the community,” Solomon said.“The Texas/Ohio fiasco was a bad deal, which cost us the steam power plant, which produced electricity at a far cheaper rate. But it was scrapped and sold as scrap metal. Now there is talk that it is up and running in some other part of the country. It could have been producing cheap electricity for us, because it ran on diesel. Now I’m saying that if the Government can subsidize entities that find themselves in difficult financial straits then they can subsidize us, because there has been no real economic growth here for the past decade,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale,” the Regional Chairman declared.He said that the 2012 budget will do absolutely nothing for Region 10,Cheap Jerseys Online, except to possibly further strangle the poor people.Solomon described the $600 increase for pensioners as a “total insult”.The 1000 plus jobs promised by President Ramotar during the last elections campaign remains an illusion, and Lindeners? are becoming increasingly frustrated with a Government many feel has no consideration for the people.