The wood sector is crying out for trained personnel

The The possibility of financial support for workers of wood during the closed season has sparked debate as to whether this alternative adapts to current needs or approaches should be aimed at staff qualified for forestry work.

Bianca Morán, former president National Association of Foresters and Related Workershe emphasized that it is crucial to promote technical education in order to provide a place for the formation of trained personnel and to improve the quality of life of those who are currently engaged in informal trade.

“99 percent of exports Panama wood comes from commercial plantations where they work 12 months a year, because at the end of the extraction months, the staff go to work in the plantations doing planting and maintenance work,” said Morán.

According to Morán, it has been proven that commercial plantations have a beneficial effect on the economy cities it arrives in, because all employees are socially insured and the environment is taken care of.

The The expert pointed out that companies Those dedicated to timber commercialization require foremen, precision chainsaw operators, assistant foremen, mechanics, packing list entries, among others.

In counterpoint he recalled that wood sector, related to logging domestic, represents 1% of the country’s wood exports (per piece) and is carried out by informal people, with a risk that generates deaths in the field and the business is in danger of extinction.

“Sale of wood arrival from indigenous forest is not prohibited only in Panama, but in all premium markets around the world because of the impact on vulnerable populations, contributing to deforestation and water quality degradation,” he explained.’

1%

wood exports come from indigenous forests and are carried out by informal workers.

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a project that establishes protection for timber and fishing workers.

He added that domestic forest operators are not subject to bank loans, since that the activity is considered harmful to the environment.

Regarding possible subsidies, Morán said that it does not create any jobs, it does not promote employment or ensure economic freedom.

In the National Assembly there is an initiative that seeks to protect timber and fishing workers. The project determines the monthly financial allocations of the state during the period of suspension or prohibition of forests.

If approved, to access assistance, a person must devote himself exclusively to himself for these activities, be accredited before Ministry of Environment or ARAP. The compensation must cover the worker’s basic needs, and if the ban lasts longer than six months, the state will have to help the worker to engage in another activity.

Representative Abel Beker, its proposer, said that the proposal indicates the humble workers who survive from these jobs and that they get severe punishments when they don’t follow the rules.

“If there is a ban, who helps them? Costa Rica does not cut wood, but they are paid So. We cannot punish our people who cut down a piece of wood to sell and buy half a kilogram of sugar or chicken,” he commented.

For his part, Alexis Peña, Secretary General ARAP, specified that the Ministry of Economy and Finance they must participate more actively in this project because it must be clear where the funds will come from in order for the financial allocations to be sustainable.

“We need support MEF guarantees This project. We recommend that you analyze it to see the viability and sustainability,” Peña stressed.