Timber company to lose licence (page 13) 23 February, 2008

Story: Michael Donkor
THE Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mrs Esther Obeng Dapaah, has directed the Forestry Commission (FC) to revoke the licence granted to Messrs Royal Visage, a timber company, to harvest teak in the Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary with immediate effect.
She has also directed the Chief Executive of the FC to prepare and present for her perusal a detailed report of all harvesting permits issued over the last 12 months.
She said the report, among other things, should indicate the name, address and location of recipient companies, the extent and location of the permit area, the estimated total stock of harvested timber and all associated financial obligations met.
Speaking at a news conference in Accra yesterday, Mrs Dapaah explained that the decision formed part of recommendations made by a committee set up by the ministry to investigate the circumstances under which permit was granted to Messrs Royal Visage to harvest timber in the Bomfobiri Sanctuary which needed to be protected.
The minister also placed a ban on the granting of timber harvesting rights in the buffer zones of protected areas such as the globally significant biological areas (GSBAs) and other special biological areas or any wildlife protected area.
She, therefore, directed the FC to identify all potential harvestable plantation sites to be documented and advertised periodically for prospective applicants to indicate and submit bids.
Mrs Dapaah said such areas should not include the buffer zones of protected areas such as the GSBAs.
She again tasked a four-member team to take inventory of the teak logs currently lying in the Bomfobiri Sanctuary and oversee their evacuation to a convenient place for auction to any company of good standing that would offer the highest bid.
Mrs Dapaah said the evacuation of the logs after the bidding exercise should be supervised by the team.
She said the committee had two weeks to complete its work and submit a report to her.
Meanwhile, she said Messrs Royal Visage had been disqualified from participating in the bidding exercise.
Mrs Dapaah said the net revenue realised from the bidding should be used to rehabilitate the sanctuary as a result of the damage caused during the harvesting of teak in it.
She explained that the granting of timber harvesting rights to Messrs Royal Visage by the FC had no legal justification and did not follow any legal procedures.
She said in addition, the FC did not have legal authority, under existing legislation, to grant timber harvesting rights for commercial purposes.
She said the decision by the commission to grant timber harvesting rights to Messrs Royal Visage for clear felling and commercial logging of teak in the Bomfobiri Sanctuary was contrary to the provisions of the existing management plan for the sanctuary.