'1000 modular homes' project to revolutionise housing industry, increase forestry sector earnings

The DuraVilla '1,000 modular homes' project, an initiative of local forestry company, Durable Wood Products Inc., will see more than 1000 pre-fabricated modular homes being sold to consumers in Guyana, other countries in the Caribbean, and on the international market.

While the launch ties into the government's commitment to improve access to safe and affordablehousingforGuyanese,it will also serve as a major revenue earner, as diverse, value-added wooden products are in demand bothlocallyandinternationally.

Already, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Durable Wood Products Inc., Rafeek Khan, has disclosed, that the company has been able to profitably export its products to a number of countries acrossmultiplecontinents.

This is due, in large part, to deliberate, well-structured, wellpositioned, articulate, and wellresearched policies on forestry, housing, and construction crafted bytheGovernmentofGuyana.

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, made this point when he delivered the feature address at the DuraVilla launch at the Durable Wood Products Land of Canaan Site, East Bank Demerara earlier thisweek.

“Ourpolicieshaveseenforestry as a true national asset, earning carbon credits, earning from the wood product itself, earning from eco-tourism, and now we are moving to more scientific areas of pharmaceuticalvalues,”hesaid.

The Head of State underlined the importance of understanding and positioning the complexity of wood products to meet the vision outlined for the sector, and noted that in order to do this, there must be continued restructuring and retoolingoftheforestrysector

“One of the first things we did [after entering government in 2020 after listening to some of the players in the sector, is that we framed a new set of incentives to ignite the sector, to re-energise and reposition the sector-including offering duty-free on almost all the equipment that was needed to rebuild the sector,” President Ali stated.

Despite the new policies and incentives, challenges such as heavy rainfall and the COVID-19 pandemic posed a severe challenge to businesses in the forestry sector, especiallysmallloggers.

“But what did the government do? We didn't sit back and look at externalchallenges,andsay,'listen, we'rereallyinabadplace'.

We decided to invest in the infrastructure to support the sector.”

Thisincludedsome$4billionto support infrastructure in the hinterland regions. “So, what has occurred as a result of all that we in this sector is back to over 20,000 persons,” President Ali disclosed. The president also highlighted that both local and international demand for construction materials hasgrownexponentially did since we came back to government production has increased. And it recovered, in 2022, an increase of over 50,000 cubicmetresascomparedto2021.

He therefore commended the company's CEO, for taking the initiativethatwillnotonlyincrease supply, but create a market for nicheproductsaswell.

Export has recovered, from 2015 to now We have launched a revolving fund of $900 million, the first ever such fund in this sector,”

PresidentAlisaid.

During the five years under the ruleofthepreviousgovernment,he added, the forestry sector's workforce declined drastically, from 25,000 to less than 14,000, with stagnation occurring for most forestry-basedbusinesses.

“Today,asIspeak,employment

“Not only is this product a timberhome,itisonethatmeetsall the international requirements that Barbados needs for hurricaneproofing currently That is no easy accomplishment.Andeverythingis engineered locally,” President Ali said.

He noted that the venture could bring major foreign revenue into Guyana, reminding that wood is an expensivecommoditythatcouldbe utilised for luxury living. Dr Ali cited the success of Barama Trading Inc. from 2020 to now, noting that through investment of

US $5 million, the company's production has increased by over 50 per cent; with small loggers supplying some $3 billion worth of lesser-known species of wood to thecompany “Barama alone is expected to increase their production this year by 30 per cent. With about $3 billionbytheloggers,30percentis talking about $900 million more. Since we announced the incentives for small loggers, Barama has moved from a logging deficit to a floor surplus now, in many instances,” the Head of State pointedout.

Barama is now moving to their thirdfactoryproductionline,which willbeinstalledbyJulyofthisyear

President Ali sees similar success ahead for DuraVilla and Durable Wood Products Inc. He made known his administration's commitment to supporting this initiative, which he sees expanding intothewiderCaribbean.(DPI)