One hundred and fifty hectares of land in the Oda River Forest Reserve and Hia Ye Ya portion in the Amansie Central District of Ashanti region have been released by the Bekwai Forest District to farmers to plant foodstuffs, in addition to the planting of trees of various species.
Mr. Palmer Aikins Amponsah, Deputy District Manager of the Bekwai Forest District said the farmers stand to gain from the gesture and urged them to take advantage of the offer and plant the needed crops, as well as the trees.
The occasion was the presentation of seedlings to the selected farmers at Hia Ye Ya.
He called on the farmers to nurture the trees and added that when they mature, the farmers will be credited with 40% of the proceeds from the sale.
The MCE for Bekwai, Mr. Kwaku Kyei Barffour, called on cocoa farmers who claim that it is proper to give out their farms for galamsey purposes in exchange for millions of cedis to change their mindset.
He warned that if care is not taken, a time will come when all cocoa farms will be sold for illegal mining purposes.
Nana Adutwumwaa Bonin III, Denyaasemanhemaa, on her part expressed grave concern over the bad nature of the road from Tweapease to Hia Ye Ya, and appealed to the government to, as a matter of urgency, fix it.
She also called for a stop to the deliberate destruction of the forest and water bodies by galamsayers across the country.
From Frederick Danso Abeam, Hia Ye Ya
