The Coordinator of Eco-Conscious Citizens, Awula Serwah, has described the Lands Ministry’s newly inaugurated Timber Monitoring Team as a duplication of the functions of the Forestry Commission, calling instead for the Commission to be adequately resourced.

The Lands Ministry recently inaugurated a nine-member Timber Monitoring Team tasked with monitoring forest reserves and curbing illegal logging, among other responsibilities.

Reacting to the development in an interview with Citi News on Tuesday January 13, Awula Serwah opposed the move, arguing that the Forestry Commission should be strengthened and properly equipped to handle illegal activities in forest reserves.

“The Forestry Commission has been mandated to take care of our forest reserves and our forests,” she said. “So what I think should be done is that the Forestry Commission should be properly resourced.

“I believe the Chief Executive has asked for them to be given paramilitary status, so that, for example, they will be able to have bulletproof vests. Incidentally, an officer has been killed, I believe by a poacher; he was shot.

“Had he had a bulletproof vest, this may not have happened. So rather than have duplication, I believe that we should allow the Forestry Commission to do its job and properly resource them,” she said.