Irate contractors protest at looming forest job cuts

By NICOLA BOYES

Logging trucks were being readied to blockade the entrance to an East Coast forestry company today as the community gathered to protest at a loss of jobs.

Forestry workers started parking trucks and machinery outside Huaguang Forests in Gisborne yesterday.

The Chinese company went into receivership last October and Malaysian company Ernslaw One is set to take over on Friday.

Workers are protesting against the planned signing over of 33,000ha of forests to Ernslaw, which has said it will cut the forestry harvest by nearly one-quarter.

Forestry contractors say the cutbacks will put workers out of jobs and claim they will be higher than Ernslaw has outlined. They say they could affect up to 60 to 70 per cent of workers in the area.

Forest One chief executive Andrew Montgomerie said his company employed about 75 workers on the East Coast.

"Ernslaw need to engage the affected people and the community in dialogue before this gets out of hand."

Mr Montgomerie said the signover had been approved by the Government and the Overseas Investment Commission.