Forestry Commission, Ho West DCE in tussle over seized timber

The Forestry Commission in the Volta Region has expressed concern over how some townsmen in the Volta Region attack forest guards in their communities with impunity and prevent them from carrying out their duties, with the support of some influential individuals.

“This is thwarting our efforts to save the forests from the ‘Timber Mafia,’” a worried Volta Regional Manager of the commission, Bright Manso-Howard, said in an interview in Ho last Sunday.

He cited an incident at Dzolo-Kpuita in the Ho West District on Saturday, October 18, when some men from the district capital attacked a forest guard and two police officers who had confiscated a consignment of semi-processed timber from some men at nearby Kpedze-Anoe.

He said the attackers posed as National Security operatives and stopped the forest guard and police officers from transporting the confiscated wood to the Forestry Commission’s regional headquarters in Ho.

However, the illegal products were sent to the Dzolo-Kpuita District Police Station for investigations to commence into the matter.

But Mr Manso-Howard said the contrabands later disappeared from the police station. It was later found that the Ho West District Chief Executive (DCE), Prosper Francis Dusey, hauled them away to an unknown destination.

DCE

When contacted, the DCE admitted to preventing the transportation of the semi-processed timber to Ho because it was meant for a mosque project in the area.

In a swift response, the Regional Forestry Manager said the timber was harvested without a permit from the Forestry Commission, and, for that matter, the DCE’s story did not hold.

Mr Manso-Howard said the environment in the Volta Region was very well preserved due to the absence of ‘galamsey’.