Millers donate wood to Tamale Relief Fund

Tamale, June 25, GNA - The Ghana Timber Millers Organisation (GTMO) on Monday donated wood products worth 100 million cedis to the Tamale Relief Fund.

The organisation also presented a cheque for 20 million cedis to support the resettlement of the victims of the rainstorm that hit the Tamale metropolis a few months ago. Mr. Emmanuel Acquah-Moses, Executive Secretary of the GTMO, made the presentation to the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris.

He said the donation was to also sympathise with the families and individuals who lost their homes and personnel effects in the disaster. Mr. Acquah-Moses said the GTMO, as part of its social responsibility, had been providing electricity and water to the communities in which they operate. He said with advances in the wood processing technology, which makes it possible to turn pencil size wood to veneer, plywood and chipboards, it was no longer justifiable to limit timber production to only southern Ghana.

The north, Mr. Acquah-Moses said, could be converted into a forest landscape through forestation while the provision of tree cover over large stretches of the northern savannah would reduce desiccation. Mr. Acquah-Moses appealed to the Forest Services Division, the Government Plantation Development Programme and the Greening Ghana Project to make seedlings available to individuals and communities in the region for planting.

Alhaji Mustapha Idris commended the GTMO for their concern for the plight of the rainstorm victims and said the donation of the wood in particular would enable the Relief Fund to speed up the rehabilitation of buildings.

He said district assemblies in the region had been alerted on the need to encourage the planting of trees around schools and other government buildings to protect them against rainstorms. He appealed to contractors working on projects to ensure that they replant trees they destroy. 25 June 07