Since this Thursday afternoon, a large fire consumed approximately 2,500 hectares of the Uverito forest, more than 6000 acres) which covers part of Anzoátegui and Monagas sates in eastern Venezuela, and it is still raging without control.
lapatilla.com correspondent
The fire was specifically first reported in the Chaguaramas sector of the Libertador Municipality, right where the wood is milled.
According to information obtained, the forest firefighters of the companies ‘Maderas de Venezuela y Turquía’ (Mavetur) do not have required resources to mitigate the flames. Despite the efforts, the fire continues to destroy significant hectares of land.
A source from the aforementioned company, who for fear of reprisals asked to keep his identity confidential, reported that Caribbean pine production has decreased drastically in recent years, which could get even worse with these incidents.
Production reached its highest peak in 2012 when between 15,000 and 20,000 hectares of Caribbean pine were processed, however, the goal for this year is only 1,500 to 2,000 hectares. Meanwhile, tree felling continues without any reforestation plan and at the same time other areas are lost as a result of fires.
It is worth remembering that this forest, the largest man made forest in the world, is managed by the joint company Mavetur, created in 2018, and the Venezuelan state company, Maderas del Orinoco, C.A. together with the private company, Glenmore Proje Insaat S.A.
According to investigations, the Mavetur company is managed by Álex Saab, who Maduro’s regime insists on calling “Venezuelan diplomat”, faces a series of lawsuits by former workers unjustifiably dismissed since 2019.
It is presumed that Saab’s partner in this joint venture is the missing and disgraced Tareck El Aissami, who a year ago was involved in PDVSA’s corruption scandal worth more than $23 billion, without any investigation to date and his whereabouts are unknown.