Weed out workers who collude with illegal loggers – Asantehene
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has urged the board of the Forestry Commission to weed out workers who collude with illegal loggers, to save the country’s forests from extinction.
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He said it was a fact that some workers of the commission were behind the incessant logging in the country’s forest reserves as well as illegal mining, popularly called galamsey, which needed to be addressed appropriately to preserve the natural resource.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu was addressing members of the newly inaugurated board of the commission headed by a retired forester, Mr Eddie Prah, at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi last Tuesday.
Members of the board were at the palace to seek the Asantehene’s support to begin four main projects, that include the promotion of eco-tourism nationwide and re-location of the Kumasi Zoo.
They also met with key stakeholders including those in the timber industry as well as workers, to solicit support to clamp down on illegal logging and to promote re-afforestation.
Indiscriminate logging
Otumfuo Osei Tutu cautioned that if the fight against indiscriminate logging was not intensified, the country would face dire consequences such as the extinction of its water bodies, animals and other natural resources.
He said there was the need for the commission to engage unemployed youth on the growing of seedlings for re-afforestation, which would as well provide jobs for the youth.
He donated a mini-forest at the Manhyia Palace to the commission to begin its eco-tourism project with.
The Board Chairman, Mr Prah, on behalf of his team pledged to deal with all bottlenecks to make the commission a success.