Teak wood
The leadership of Private Afforestation Developers Organization (PADO) has frowned on government’s decision to import Chilean Pan product into the country at the expense of our local teak tree products.
They bewailed the move, and described it as an attempt by the government of Ghana to discourage Ghanaians from taking up farming as a serious business.
PADO is made up of Ghanaian local investors who are concentrating on Teak Tree Production in the country. This was disclosed by the President of PADO Mr George Asamoah Amankwa.
The Government took a keen interest in the teak tree plantation thereby releasing all degraded forest zones in the country to interested parties to venture into teak trees plantation by way of restoring the degraded forest zones.
For decades, the government of Ghana has been using teak trees for both urban and rural electrification projects and the demand for the products far exceeds supply, so some Ghanaian investors took advantage of it by venturing into large scale production.
This has helped the teak farmers and also proven to be the best for the country’s electrification projects, but it appears the government is now opting for imported light poles from Chile and South Africa.
PADO feels apprehensive about this new twist, saying, the government is slowly kicking them out of operations with its recent decision to import Chile Pan products.
According to the president of the Association, Mr George Asamoah Amankwa, he has been given a permit to cut down his teak trees for the market but almost one and a half years have passed and he has not been able to harvest due to the lackadaisical attitude of the district forest officer.
He said his teak plantation was started in 2004 and is ready for the market, but, the forest officer at Tano North district is not given them clearance to cut-down, despite the clearance from the forestry commission.
Speaking on Oyerepa 100.7 FM breakfast show on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, he disclosed that about 5,700 hectares of teak plantation have been left in the bush, while others are cutting theirs for charcoal production.
He said all efforts by the association to stop the importation of the Pan from Chile and South Africa have been unsuccessful so far.
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