Court remands 3 for illegal logging in Oda forest reserve
The Bekwai Magistrate Court, presided over by Mr Kwabena Ansah Pobih, has remanded in custody three persons who are on trial for engaging in illegal logging in the Oda Forest Reserve in the Bekwai Forest District of the Ashanti Region.
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The three are Isaac Boateng, farmer; Stephen Tetteh, carpenter and Francis Koranteng, farmer.
They were charged with conspiracy to illegally harvest trees, entering the forest reserve without authority from a competent forest officer to fell trees, harvesting timber without timber utilisation contract, using unregistered chainsaw machine to fell trees and causing unlawful damage contrary to Section 172 of the Criminal Offence Act. They pleaded guilty to the charges.
Koranteng faced an additional count of failing to register his chainsaw machine contrary to Section 31 of the Timber Resource Management Regulation 1998, LI 1649.
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Prosecution’s case
When the accused persons appeared in court last Tuesday, the prosecutor, Chief Inspector (C/I) Francis Osei Boateng, said the three resided at Nine Mile near Obuasi.
He said the Rapid Response team of the Bekwai Forest District got a tip-off about the illegal activities in the forest reserve at Hiayeya near Obuasi by the three about 2.30p.m. and proceeded to the scene.
C/I Boateng said the team met the accused persons in the act having felled one Esia tree and in the process of sawing it into lumber.
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He noted that the team arrested the three and handed them over to the police for investigations and during police interrogation, the accused persons admitted their offences.
He informed the court that the damage caused the forest vegetation and the value of the Esia tree felled was estimated at about GH¢16,000.
The magistrate remanded the three in custody to re-appear before the court on August 29, 2017.