Two organisations representing indigenous people in Guyana have urged Malaysian timber giant Samling Group to immediately cease all logging operations on the titled lands of the Akawini Amerindian Village on the Pomeroon River.

The two organisations are the Amerindian Peoples' Association (APA) and the Guyanese Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP).

According to a media release signed by their attorney, David James, the two organisations have called on the Guyanese government to review contracts with companies such as Samling.

They accused companies like Samling of "plundering" the natural resources of Guyana for which the locals receive "minimal benefits."

The appeal is being issued three weeks after a delegation from Guyana presented grave allegations against the Malaysian logging giant at a press conference in Zurich that was organized by the Bruno Manser Fonds and the Society for Threatened Peoples.

Barama Co. Ltd, the Guyanese subsidiary of Samling, is being accused of logging illegally on over 400,000 hectares of tropical rainforest outside its concessions and of operating on titled Amerindian lands without the consent of the communities.

'Vicious variant of colonialism'

The issue also gained coverage in the Guyanaese media.

In a letter to the editor published earlier this week by the independent Guyanese newspaper Staebroek News and the state-controlled Guyana Chronicle, Janette Bulkan, a leading Guyanese rainforest advocate, labelled Samling's operations in Guyana as "a new vicious variant of colonialism".

According to Bulkan, the Samling group paid more than 30 times less in royalties and rent for its operations in Guyana than it did in Malaysia between 2003 and 2006 despite controlling more forest lands in Guyana than it does in Malaysia.

Samling Global Ltd. was recently listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange with support from Credit Suisse, HSBC and the Australian Maquarie Securities Ltd. The international banks are under heavy criticism for assisting the destruction of tropical rainforests and partially acting in breach of their own policies.

While HSBC started an independent review of its environmental due diligence process, Credit Suisse and Maquarie declined to undertake any further steps.

The banks have been asked by an international coalition of NGOs to cease their business relationship with Samling and to refund the profits made from the Samling listing to the affected indigenous peoples.