Gov't won't relent on its stance against log export

Cape Coast, Aug 1, GNA- The Minister of Lands and Forestry, Professor Dominic Fobih, on Friday, stressed that the government intends to maintain the ban on export of log timber.

He said there have been calls and lobbying from certain sectors of the industry, for the policy to be reviewed, and pointed out that maintaining the policy, while promoting downstream processing, were part of efforts to add value to the product.

Professor Dominic Fobih was addressing the 'sixth quadrennial delegates conference' of the Timber and Wood Workers Union (TWU) at Cape Coast.

The theme for the one-day conference, which was to enable the union take stock of its activities and evolve strategies to enhance its activities over the next four years, was: " restoration of our degraded forest: the role of government, industry and the union"

He said the success of revamping the industry, would be measured by the success of the downstream processing towards the establishment of a vibrant and high value wood processing industry, beneficial to the national economy and the forests.

He said the revamping programme, development projects, which would be done on pilot basis in six communities in the country, by the end of next month, and that nine million dollars had been acquired for the project.

The Minister spoke about limited timber resources, low recovery rates, inadequate capacity in industrial engineering, lack of quality control and poor financing to take advantage of market opportunities. He said these challenges prevent many timber companies from meeting export specifications of the international market, adding that most of the producers, in an attempt to put anything on the market, tend to waste a lot of wood and thus reduce their profit margins.

The Minister deplored the practice whereby in a bid to compensate for the inefficiencies and low profit margins by increasing their products, some producers looked for relatively cheaper chain-sawn lumber.

He cautioned that the practice put pressure on the forest, and that if the situation was not addressed, it could result in collapse of the industry and affect socio-economic development.

He said it was in this view that measures such as transparent timber rights allocation system through competitive bidding, as well as in-built checks, were put in place to ensure that the big companies do not crowd out the smaller ones.

Prof. Fobih also cautioned workers in the industry against over and under invoicing, since such negative practices tended to affect the industry and the nation at large.

Mr. Kwasi Adu- Amankwah, Secretary- General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), noted that the working conditions in the industry left much to be desired and needed immediate attention.

He called on the conference to help address the problem of deforestation, in order to help restore the vast areas of forest covers that the country has been losing over the years.

The General-Secretary of the TWU, Mr. Joshua Ansah, urged government to create an enabling environment through the "enactment of clear cut policies and laws, to make the industry thrive".

He appealed to the Minister to intervene on behalf of workers in the industry who are according to him, are "being laid off day in and day out" because of shortage of raw materials.

Mr. Ansah, however, expressed his support to the ban on log export, and urged all workers in the industry to work harder in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry.