Minister Saves State Gh¢300,000

By Michael Boateng

Sunyani — The timely intervention of the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, in his fight against illegal lumbering, has saved Ghana huge sums of money.

In an interview with the Regional Minister, he disclosed that the owners of the illegal lumbers had not shown up, as a result, he has suggested to the Regional Forestry Commission to auction the lumber and deposit the accrued money into government chest.

He further revealed that the matter had been handed over to the Regional Forestry Commission, which has been reporting on the matter to him on a regular basis.

Mr. Asomah-Cheremeh continued that some of the lumber had started rotting, hence the decision to auction.

The Forestry Commission has, subsequently, auctioned the confiscated lumber and the money accrued paid into government chest. The Regional Minister could not disclose the total amount accrued from the sale of the lumber, but information available to The Chronicle revealed that the amount was about GH¢300,000.

It would be recalled that the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister intercepted over seven articulated trucks loaded with large quantities of illegal chainsaw lumber at Banda heading for neighbouring Burkina Faso. The sawn lumber were suspected to have been transported from Deabaa, a farming community in the Asunafo South District, but the drivers decided to outwit the security agencies by using the Dormaa-Sampa-Nsawkaw road, through Banda Ahenkro to join the Wenchi-Wa highway to Burkina Faso at Tinga junction.

Mr. Asomah-Cheremeh, was with members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) returning from Banda Ahenkro after a fact-finding mission on a xenophobic threat, intercepted the trucks on suspicion, considering the quantity of lumber being transported.

The trucks were escorted by a joint police and military force to Wenchi, and later to Sunyani. However, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister has indicated that the fight against illegal lumbering and mining would continue to help protect the environment.

He called on all Ghanaians to support the battle against the canker, no matter our political affiliations.

Mr. Asomah-Cheremeh lamented on the rate at which the region's forest cover was being depleted, and pledged his outfit's readiness to put a stop to the act he described as "criminal." He disclosed that a taskforce to monitor the activities of the illegal loggers would soon be inaugurated, to undertake rigorous monitoring in the region.

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