Assemblyman in illegal chainsaw operations - NCCE

Tamale, Aug. 16, GNA - Mr Macmathews Chancellor, a Senior Officer of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Tamale, has accused an assemblyman of the area for engaging in large scale commercial chain saw operations.

He said Langa, Assemblyman of Nasoyire and Gentilpe Electoral Area in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District, had profited from the illegal business and had bought a Kia Truck from the proceeds to transport some of the lumbar for sale in commercial quantities.

Mr Chancellor, who is working on the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP), was presenting a report in Tamale on Monday on the project from the grassroots.

The GEMP is a pilot project funded by the Canadian Government through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It is aimed at protecting the environment through sustainable land management.

Mr Chancellor therefore called on the law enforcement agencies to stop the activities of the assemblyman to serve as a deterrent and curb the depletion of the forest.

When the Ghana News Agency contacted the Northern Regional Forestry Manager, Mr Ebenezer Djaney Djagbletey, he said the act of the assemblyman had gone contrary to the Timber and Resource Act, Act 547, which outlawed the use of chainsaw for lumbar for commercial purposes.

He said it was unfortunate that an assemblyman who should know better was engaged in such acts and that he would instruct for Langa's arrest and subsequent prosecution.