Guyana Forestry Commission remains under Natural Resources Ministry -Minister Harmon clarifies

Georgetown, Guyana – (December 21, 2016) Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon wishes to inform that the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) remains under the purview of the Ministry of Natural Resources and not his Ministry.

Last evening, in a comment to the media regarding the agencies that are gazetted under his portfolio, the Minister was quoted saying, “There are some duties missing, there should have been included the responsibility for environmental issues and agencies such as the Guyana Forestry Commission.”

However, the Minister wishes to correct that statement and inform that it is, in fact, the the National Parks Commission that was inadvertently omitted from the list of agencies that falls under the Department of Environment in the December 14, 2016 Extraordinary Gazette.

The Department of Environment, for which Minister Harmon holds responsibility, is tasked with overseeing the activities of environmental compliance and management, protected areas development and management, national parks management and wildlife conservation and protection. It is directly responsible for ensuring coordination of the work of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Protected Areas Commission, the National Parks Commission and the Wildlife Division.