I wish to call on all regulatory agencies and stakeholders in the fight against environmental degradation to investigate how a timber company, whose permit had expired in December, 2024 could still rely on that document and be felling trees to do its business.
On 5 June, this year, the Volta regional branch of the National Security, led by its head, impounded some fresh logs being loaded into containers at Awate-Agame in the Volta Region, after days of gathering intelligence.
The Ghanaian agents of the expatriate loggers produced documents permitting the felling of the trees of a special species.
Unfortunately, the permit had expired in December, 2024 thereby rendering the logging activities unlawful.
A few days earlier, workers of the company were seen busily felling some trees with a chainsaw just by the road at Awate-Todzi, while a tractor was hauling more fresh logs from the forest reserve.
A 40-footer container on a trailer was being loaded. This practice, according to some residents, has been ongoing for some time, but they were told that the loggers had legal authorisation of the Forestry Commission.
When the leader of the security team from Ho rang the regional forestry officer from the site, not only did he challenge his authority, he also yelled at him and sought to order him not to interfere with the work of the loggers, which he described as legitimate.
When the security boss drew his attention to the expiry date as reflected on the document, he said that information had not got to his attention, but insisted that the ongoing logging was in line of law.
As that part of the country is, for now, spared the galamsey menaces, there is a need to preserve the forest cover and the environment, most especially as the president intends to phase out wooden desks from schools in his commendable efforts to preserve the environment.
Residents say they often see light-skinned men roaming the area in taxis during logging time by the local boys.
They, thus, suspect them to be behind the plundering of the forest reserve. Even on 7 June, 2025, a truck without a number plate in front of it loaded fresh logs from the area heading towards Accra.
Further investigations revealed that the type of trees being felled is for the production of paper, but this claim has not been investigated.
It was also gathered that the logs are exported in their raw form and could have long been shipped, but the depreciation of the US Dollar against the Cedi has made it that they are being piled up in Accra in the meantime.
Granted that the species being felled are Eucalyptus and gmelina, which are among the permissible species to be logged under a permit, does the expiration of their papers not render their continued logging a violation of the nation’s laws?
I, therefore, wish to draw the attention of all stakeholders in the fight to protecting the environment to this for a thorough investigation, while the regional security team together with its leader is commended for their efforts.
By B.K.S Kwami.
