Sep 21, 2026
3 min read
East Bank Berbice loggers have been offered up to 5,000 additional acres, a furniture-making workshop and a 1,200-acre mining block, but only if they resolve internal divisions and get their association functioning, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat has said.
Bharrat made the offer during a meeting with residents, miners and loggers in the Mara-Plegt Anker area on Friday, following concerns raised by East Bank Berbice loggers at a Forestry Commission open day the previous week.
He said the association currently holds roughly 8,500 acres under its concession, and government is prepared to expand that.
"Right now you got about 8,000 something acres. We can give you about four or five thousand more acres. I'm committing to that right now. If you can fix your problem," Bharrat said.
The offer is conditional on the association resolving what Bharrat described as longstanding internal disagreements affecting its operations. He said the concession had not been renewed for two years despite tags being available at the Guyana Forestry Commission, adding that the problem was the group's inability to work together rather than a lack of government support.
Bharrat also proposed establishing a furniture-making workshop in the area, with government supplying the equipment once a site is identified.
"If you can fix your problem and you find a building anywhere in Mara–Plegt Anker East Bank area, we can buy all the tools for furniture shop. Every single equipment and tool that you need, we will put it in your workshop. You just tell us that this is the place you want to do it," he said.
He said jewellery-making and joinery training would be brought to Berbice before the end of the year, open to young people and other residents who want to learn furniture-making.
Bharrat further offered the association the chance to diversify into mining once it is functioning properly, saying a 1,200-acre mining block could be allocated alongside its logging operations.
"Gold is not like logging, you need a little land, but rich land. The block depending on the quality of the gold-bearing land," he said.
Since gold mining is not conducted in Berbice, he said the association would need to operate in an established mining region such as Region One, Seven or Eight.
Bharrat also floated bringing the various groups together under a single East Bank loggers and miners association, with an executive elected by members.
The Guyana Forestry Commission will meet loggers, the firewood association and other small associations on the East Bank of Berbice on September 27 in Mara, as part of efforts to form a new association and elect an executive team.
