Programme Officer of Civic Response, Obed Owusu-Addai said highly corrupt government officials had encouraged many timber companies to evade taxes and royalties to the detriment of the State and host communities.

Citing figures from government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as research papers, Mr Owusu-Addai indicated that the timber rights fee which was supposed to be paid by timber contractors had not been paid over the past 10 years, causing the State to lose about $200 million annually.

He also said the State lost about $200 million per annum due to illegal chainsaw operations from 2009 to date.

According to him, Ghana lost about $16 million owing to the lack of revision of stumpage fee from 2003 to date.

He said that the State lost the said amount due to the ineffectiveness of the existing legislation and wanton corruption by officials of government, particularly at the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources.

Some defaulting companies, he mentioned, include Carpo Limited, which reportedly owes the State about $314,178; J.D. Kwarteng, $288,000; African Hardwood Timbers, $390,000; Tepa Sawmills Co, $426,000 and Anapim Company Limited, $63,000.

The rest are Chiraa Forest Mills, $369,600, Chiridi Construction Limited, $356,400 and Oti Yeboah Complex, $1,014, 178.

According to him, management of the Ghana Forestry Commission confided in Civic Response that the companies refused to pay the annual Timber Right Fee based on the law.

He added that most of the illegal timber from Ghana were exported to Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal mostly by Indian and Lebanese companies.

Mr Owusu-Addai accused the companies of bribing some government officials to permit them to carry out their illegal activities.

He said that Ghana was losing its forest cover by 2.2 percent, with about 135, 000 hectares a year.

Clement Kojo Akpame, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Ghana Institute for Public Administration (GIMPA), in a presentation themed: ‘Saving Ghana’s Forest: Time for a unified law,’ said the non-payment of the stumpage fee is as a result of the lack of clarity on the existing legislation.”

He stressed the need to codify all the legislations on the forest into one book.

“As a result of the lack of a unified forest and wildlife legislation in the country, it has become difficult to effectively enforce any of the already existing 27 laws which are scattered all over the place.”

Mr. Akpame urged journalists to play their watchdog role by holding government accountable to prevent the loss of the country’s forest cover and wildlife.

“Is a worry not only to management but a worry to the whole country”, he told Joy News’ Richard Kwadwo Nyarko when he visited the facility.

“This particular facility is not for those of us who are managing it, it is a national facility and government and other stakeholders should be worried about the situation,” the coordinator stated.

Jonathan complained that management’s numerous appeals to government to reconstruct the road have not yielded any results.

He said the Canopy Walkway built in 1995 by experienced Canadians and supported by some Ghanaians, was strictly maintained through the regular changing of various parts, tightening and oiling sections.

“For twenty years, the Kakum Canopy Walkway which is about 330 metres long, has been in operation without any incidents.”

Mr Cobbinah said despite the fact that there was an insurance cover for the facility, as well as the staff and people who used it, Management had not compromised with its regular maintenance.

He said just last month all the bridges and nylon nets used on the walkway were changed, and new ones fixed.

He said any news that linked the collapse of the Bunso Arboretum canopy walkway in the Eastern Region to the Kakum walkway might have been accidental.

Mr Cobbinah, therefore, appealed to the various media houses with any reservations, to contact the Management before going public.

He assured the general public and regular users of the Walkway that their safety would continue to be Management's topmost priority.

Mr Cobbinah, therefore, advised them not to harbour any negative feelings about the facility, but continue to patronise it. 

Mr Cobbinah seized the opportunity to wish those who got injured in the collapsed Bunso Arboretum Canopy Walkway in the Eastern Region, speedy recovery.

Help other travelers, and visitors. 

Where you received friendly? What do you think of the Entrance Fee? Have you had any negative experience? Would you recommend the National Park?

JoyNews’ Manasseh Azuri Awuni who visited the park said the wooden boards of the walkway had broken, nets torn, and metals railings broken.

Apart from the neat and well-maintained washrooms, all facilities at the park are deteriorating.

But Manager of the Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust, managers of the Kakum National Park, Francis Cobbinah, who spoke to JoyNews insists that the Kakum Canopy Walkway as it is now poses no danger to patrons.

He said the walkway is inspected every morning to ensure that gaps that develop in it are pushed together before it is open to the public.

According to him, the walkway still attracts a lot of foreign visitors each day and remains a very important tourist attraction in the country.
Source: myjoyonline.com - 

She said as a result of technology, most people, particularly the young ones, did not respect such traditional values of conservation and that had gone a long way of contributing to the degradation to the country’s forest resources.

“For example, in our formative years, we were told that cutting down some trees would result in dire consequences, but what do we see today? People, out of curiosity, destroy such trees and nothing happens to them,” she added.

Miss Asamoah made the call at the Eastern Regional launch of the Ghana Forest Wildlife Policy in Koforidua.

The new policy has been designed to bring a new focus and direction to forest and wildlife management in Ghana.

Background

She said the implementation of the 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy brought a number of strategic initiatives and sector reforms which sought to improve and develop the forest resource base of the country and integrated good governance, transparency, equity and poverty reduction into the wildlife sector.

She said, unfortunately, after almost two decades of implementing the policy, Ghana’s timber and non-timber resources were being overexploited and continue to decline in both quantity and quality.

Miss Asamoah said unlike the 1994 policy which sought primarily to maintain the forest resources as a source of timber to feed a vibrant timber industry, the 2012 policy was a shift from the over dependence on timber production to biodiversity conservation.

New Policy

The deputy minister said the focus of the new policy placed more emphasis on eco-tourism development so as to maximise the benefits that forests provided.

“The Atiwa Forest, Kakum National Park, Achimota Forest, Mole National Park, among others, are clear examples of the eco-tourism potential of this country which needs to be promoted,” she said.

She said the policy also provided good indication for a better future forest governance and that it must be embraced by all stakeholders.

Miss Asamoah was happy that a number of practical strategies had been defined in the policy document which required that resource managers and major stakeholders translated those strategies into actions that could address the current problems of the forest and wildlife sector.

She announced that a forestry development master plan would be developed after the regional launches to provide an action plan for the implementation of the policy.

The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Miss Mavis Ama Frimpong, was hopeful that the implementation of the policy would reverse the trend of environmental degradation in the region.

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