Renewal of State Forest Authorizations- State Forest Permissions (SFA-SFPs)

Public Notice
Renewal of State Forest Authorizations- State Forest Permissions (SFA-SFPs) for 2021/2023

The GFC will commence receiving applications for renewal of SFA-SFP’s from 1st October 2020 – December 31 2020.
Application forms will be available at each forest station and can also be downloaded from the GFC website: www.forestry.gov.gy
Applications must be accompanied with the following:

a) Active/valid Business Registration (if registered as a business entity)
b) TIN certificate
c) Certificate of Incorporation (if registered as a company)
d) Valid form of identification (ID or passport)
e) List of equipment/machinery with individual serial and chassis numbers, proof of ownership/legal access to these equipment/machinery (receipts, agreement of sale, valid acceptable rental agreement registration etc.) A current photograph of each piece of equipment must also be submitted.
f) List of employees/ list of members with copies of picture ID’s
g) Police clearance (for applicant)
h) GRA compliances (for applicant)
i) NIS compliances (for applicant)
j) EPA Permit (or evidence that applicant has applied for same, including receipt showing that an application was made for same)

GFC recommends that the applications and supporting documents be submitted online; however, hard copies of the applications and supporting documents can also be submitted to any Forest Station on or before the deadline for renewal (December 31 2020).

The application fee for renewal of each SFA-SFP is G $ 10,500.00 and must be paid in full at the time of submission of the application(s).

Acreage fees and royalties payable on forest produce harvested are statutory fees. All acreage fees and royalties due must be paid off on or before the date of application; applications will not be accepted from persons who have outstanding acreage fees/royalties with the GFC.

Applications will only be accepted from existing SFA-SFP holders who attain a production of at least 45 % of their allotted quota. Applicants whose production at the time of application submission is less than 45 % may not be considered for renewal.

An updated production register for 2020 must be presented to the GFC for each SFA-SFP concession. This must be provided in the GFC approved format which can be obtained from the nearest Forest Station.

Renewal is not automatic and the submission of an application and payment of application fees does not give permission for commencing any business operations, or guarantee renewal.
Applicants must agree in writing, to comply with GFC’s regulatory practices.

Applicants will be required to return all unused tags for the 2018/2020 operational period at the close of business in 2020.

Areas for which renewal applications have not been received (by 31 December 2020) may be considered for reallocation.
Incomplete applications will not be acknowledged/processed.

Applicants whose production is currently 44 % or less will have to attend a meeting to engage the GFC Management on the reason(s) for the non-beneficial occupation of the allocated forest area. After this meeting, you will be advised on action(s) that may be taken if you fail to achieve a minimum of 45 % production at the time of application submission.

The dates, times, and venues for these meetings are listed below and will also be published on the GFC’s website. This information will also be available at Forest Stations countrywide. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that regular checks are made with the Forest Stations’ staff to verify the information relevant to these meetings.

Date Time Venue
Wednesday 23 September 2020 10:00 hrs Parika
Wednesday 23 September 2020 10:00 hrs GFC Multiplex
Friday 25 September 2020 09:00 hrs Charity
14:00 hrs Anna Regina
Friday 25 September 2020 10:00 hrs Corriverton
14:00 hrs Canje
Monday 28 September 2020 10:00 hrs Kwakwani
10:00 hrs Ituni
14:00 hrs Linden

Due to COVID 19 restrictions, only the SFA-SFP concessionaire or her/his representative whose production is below 44 % of the allocated quota, will be allowed to attend these meeting.
Attendance is compulsory and an attendance register will be in place. GFC will not be held responsible for any applicant not attending these compulsory meetings.

In addition, applicants are requested to submit to the GFC at the close of 2020, the volume and number of pieces of produce on the ground together with the tags used on this produce. Permission will only be granted to remove this declared produce in 2021, as production from 2020. The format of submissions can be uplifted from the nearest Forest Station.

Commissioner of Forest

1 Water Street, Kingston Georgetown, Tel: 592- 226-7271/4, Fax: 592-226-8956, Email: forestrygy@gmail.com

Comments are closed.