For Immediate Release:
November 7, 2013
Forest Industry on Great Northern Peninsula Forgotten by Government: Mitchelmore
Independent Member Christopher Mitchelmore (MHA, The Straits-White Bay North) says Government inaction has led to the loss of forestry jobs and economic opportunity on the Great Northern Peninsula.
For years the forest industry has been on life support with the downturn in demand for newsprint, shedding hundreds of jobs on the Peninsula. The current shutdown of Holson Forest Products has made matters worse, as local workers, business and Town of Roddickton-Bide Arm and surrounding communities suffer from economic instability.
“Millions of public dollars was invested under the Forestry Diversification Program to re-build the sawmill, establish a kiln and a 60,000 MT pellet plant in Roddickton’, says Mitchelmore. ‘It is evident from months of unproductivity; there are barriers that must be overcome to provide a product that is in demand to market. It’s time for Government to ensure that public money is protected and work with the company to become fully-operational.”
“This business model is ideal to maintain rural jobs and build sustainable rural economies. Government should not forget the value of the forest industry on the Great Northern Peninsula. It is time to get serious about developing this important industry.”
During a meeting of the Public Accounts in October, Department of Forestry and Agrifood officials stated they were committed on having a fully-functioning pellet plant in Roddickton-Bide Arm. The Minister should re-affirm the words of his officials with an action plan to have pellet production begin at Holson Forest Products within six months.
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Christopher Mitchelmore, MHAThe Straits-White Bay North Tel: 1-888-729-6091 Email: cmitchelmore@gov.nl.ca
What is going on re the pelletizing process here?Apparently there is huge demand even from many miles away, with the output of plants in other provinces in eastern Canada sold well into the future. Recently at The Rooms there was an opportunity to ask experts about this and they said that the costs of drying the product here made it uneconomical. Is that the whole story or is it a case of blocking by entrenched interests? Or am I getting paranoid? What about the overall forest policy? Burning wood for heat is not a perfect solution but we do have to keep warm, and if used as one part of our energy solution it has advantages over oil, and to my mind, also over nuclear energy. What do you think about these complex issues? Thank you. Joan