Barranco villagers plan meeting to discuss logging concessions following protest this week

By Benjamin Flowers: Villagers from Barranco, a Gariniagu village in the Toledo district are preparing to host a meeting to discuss the way forward after a number of issues arose with the distribution of logging concessions in the area.

Earlier this week, the villagers staged a protest as a number of villagers who applied for their logging concessions were denied. They contend that some of the concessions that were approved were given to people who do not even live in Barranco and that concessions are being granted to political cronies instead of villagers.

Our newsroom spoke with village chairman Jerry Arzu earlier today, who said that the villagers are preparing to hold a consultation meeting on Sunday, February 20, to decide the way forward. Arzu declined further comment until after the consultation.

Meanwhile, those with approved concessions have begun mobilizing to begin logging. We note that this is not the first time there have been issues with logging concessions in Barranco, with a similar issue arising back in 2018.

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