SECREN related concerns and rosewood related jackpot in Antsiranana

SECREN used to be once the Malagasy industry’s undisputed flagship but is now dying down. This public company specialized in ship construction and repair has long ago got on the way to bankruptcy. Its facilities, its equipment and its leadership are outdated. Ship owners and other companies trading through the Indian Ocean’s seas turned away from Antsiranana and rather head towards Mauritius.

The SECREN company’s main problem is the deterioration of its basin and various other facilities which used to be its primary asset apart from Antsiranana’s geographical advantage. A call for tenders was launched to tackle the restoration. The COLAS company responded, does however not look hurried to do the job. The restoration of its main basin will anyway not prove enough to bring SECREN back to life again.

Complying with international standards through the purchase of new machines and other production tools happens to be one of the company’s major challenges. The leadership is even considering a larger privatization of the company. Investments from potential shareholders would massively contribute to update the company’s facilities.

In between, SECREN equally strains to rejuvenate its very own leadership. The company has set up a training center dedicated to technicians. And white collars growing old may expect to be replaced as an outcome of the training policy.

The rosewood treasure chest

Precious wood traders and business people in the DIANA region insistently ring the alarm bell in regard of a son named emergency situation. Some 300,000 rosewood logs have been laying in some 2,500 locked up containers in the harbor since the exportation right got suspended. “This is a potentially lucrative income source for the ruling power as well as for the locals” argued the rosewood traders. With Ar 72 million per container, the ruling power is likely to recover some Ar 180 billion ariary ($ 1 = 2250 MGA) in all.

And this would merely represent 10% of the precious wood’s current course on the international market. One kilo of precious wood is now being sold against more than US$ 5. One log weighting some 200 kg would bring no less than US$ 1,000. Do your maths. Some US$ 300 million do lay down in Antsiranana’s harbor.

The business is lucrative as a matter of fact. The wood stored inside containers is however in no way eternal. It deteriorates on the long term and consequently drops in value. Traders making their living from the sector jointly call upon the ruling power to immediately lift the ban on the rosewood exportation and concede a one or two month long exportation extra-time.

Exporters outlined that China, Madagascar’s main rosewood buyer will stop its importations in 2013. They would even concede more money than the basic Ar 72 million per container collected in 2009 – in order to convince the government if need be.

So what is the stand taken by Beriziky, the Environment Minister currently serving as Transitional Prime Minister? His predecessor was sacked for having poked his nose far too inconveniently in the illegal precious wood trade involving the ruling power’s senior officials or their proxies. The transitional minister promised to address the issue in Antananarivo.

The figures are actually depicting quite a tragedy. The 300 000 rosewood logs are stemming from no less than 15 000 ha of cleared forests. 500 000 trees were brought down and served the transportation of the precious logs; vines were used to bind the cargo; not to mention damages caused by the transportation itself on low vegetation.

Whenever an exporter reaches US$ 10 million in yearly turnovers, the state earns US$ 100 000, and the woodman, US$ 1,000. No wonder that the Environmental arguments put by any Minister forth cannot cope. The ruling power has repeatedly been attempted to seize the whole cargo and the whole jackpot by the same way and present this trick as the ultimate way to put an end to illegal clearings.