Residents along the East Bank of Berbice have welcomed proposals to expand logging, mining and furniture-making opportunities, though loggers must first resolve internal differences before the plans can move forward.
Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat proposed a 5,000-acre forestry concession, a 1,200-acre mining block and a furniture-making workshop for the area.
Mara resident and businessman Pooran Persaud said the initiatives could create opportunities in business and agriculture and encourage more people to return to the community.
"It's a very good idea, it's okay to do logging and so. In the furniture factory, we think if we open the furniture factory, plenty of people are getting benefits out of the factory," Persaud said. "I think it expands, you know, more people come in the area and live. We got a lot of people going up on the place. And now the road build, plenty of people coming back and do business in here, planting farms."
Roopchand Singh agreed that the proposals offer valuable opportunities for residents and loggers, but stressed that members of the Loggers Association must work together to benefit from them.
"Let me thank Minister Bharrat for being in Mara. I'm sure that the Government still has the Mara people at interest and at heart," Singh said. "They need to get together, as the Minister said, and make use of the benefits that the Government is bringing to them. They can't just want to sit and everything must come to them."
Echoing that call for unity, James Chisom said loggers must work with the association's chairman to see the proposals through.
"We feel comfortable with what he talks about concerning the logging and this kind of stuff. So now we have to be with the chairman for the association and just work together on what is supposed to be done. We have to get it right, cooperate together and work as one," he said.
Looking beyond cooperation to the proposals' reach, Rishona Seekumar said the initiatives could benefit both established operators and young people while expanding opportunities beyond the country's better-known areas to communities across East Berbice.
"It gives them the opportunity to not only benefit themselves, but also their individual communities and the entirety of Berbice. For a long time now, it has been solely within the Georgetown district or these places that are countrywide known," Seekumar said, adding that the initiatives could reduce some of the costs associated with doing business and create opportunities across several sectors.
Seochan Durjodhan shared that view, describing the proposals as a positive development, particularly the prospect of a furniture-making facility and opportunities for skills development.
"You can become a goldsmith, you can become a joiner, and so much other things you can do. It's not only for the youth alone, people of any age, as long as you're physically fit, you can, and I feel great about that," Durjodhan said.
He added that bringing loggers' groups together under one association could unlock further benefits, including through mining.
"Instead of having so many associations along the East Bank, put one. And the association will also be with the mining. That's a big boost for them because they can earn more money and more employment. So it's something very nice. More jobs we create as well," Durjodhan said.
The Loggers Association is expected to continue discussions on September 27 as efforts move ahead to resolve its internal differences.