The Bono Regional Forestry Commission has intercepted 21 fully loaded trucks with stolen wood from some protected forest reserves in the area. The Bono Regional Manager of the Forestry Commission, Augustine Gyedu who confirmed the story said, the intercepted trucks have full loads of stolen wood from the various forest reserves in the Bono Region. He said, out of the intercepted 21 trucks, 11 of them have no documents on their loads while the other 11 have documents but have stolen additional wood that was not part of the agreement.
Bono Regional Manager of the Forestry Commission, Augustine Gyedu
He revealed that, personnel of the Forestry Commission are now scared to enter the reserves to arrest the illegal loggers since they are constantly attacked by them, and have resorted to operating on the road to intercept the stolen woods, which he said is yielding good results. He disclosed that, part of these confiscated woods would be given to the Bono Regional Coordinating Council to produce furniture for schools that have furniture deficits and the Bono Regional Sports Authority would also have their share to renovate the stands at the Sunyani Coronation Park, adding that, the rest would be sold to the general public. The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene on her part gave a strong warning to the illegal chainsaw operators to halt their activities or blame themselves for any consequences of their operations.
Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene
She said, government is spending millions of Cedis on Green Ghana Day and it is imperative that the trees are protected to serve its purpose. The Regional Coordinating Council is liaising with the Ministry of Defence to support personnel of the Forestry Commission to protect their various forest reserves in the region.