For two weeks now we've been reporting on the illegal logging in Boston village. Today we asked the Minister with responsibility for forestry for an update on the findings of the investigation so far.
He said that the known infractions so far are cutting beyond the approved time frame and outside the boundaries:
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development
"No, I haven't spoken to them. But the fact that initially it wasn't an illegal thing, but because the person had, logging license for a very short period, I believe it was given on the 15th of May. I don't know when they picked up their document, so maybe they picked it up the week, the week after, up to July, 31st. So it was just about two and a half months. The illegal part there would have been when they went beyond the boundaries and also when they went beyond the 31st of July."
"But if they had the equipment there because they were harvesting lumber illegally, then who knows. And we don't know, we are doing the investigation. How can you tell which logs were harvested up to the 31st of July, or the second and third of August?"
Reporter-
"So you should be telling us that because you guys are the regulators, how do you ensure that what should be done is done on the ground?"
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development
"But how can your personnel be out there every day? They might be there once a week but they cant be there everyday."
