GRi in Parliament Ghana 19 - 10 - 2001
Parliament to lead the way in afforestation
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 October 2001-Parliament on Thursday said enough speeches have been made on the national afforestation programme and took it upon itself to lead the way to stop the southward drift of the Sahara desert.
Speaker after speaker supported a statement Mr Samuel Obodai, NPP-Agona West made on the deforestation of the country and were unanimous that a lot of speeches have been made on the subject and that what was needed now was concrete actions to confront the problem.
He complained about the massive depletion of the forest in his constituency and other parts of the country and called for a concerted action to arrest the situation.
He said: "It is imperative for all players in the management of the forests to work in concert to remove all bottlenecks impeding the effective enforcement of existing regulations so that companies and individuals do not flout the rules with impunity."
Mr Sampson K. Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister said practical demonstrations by members to tackle the problem would be a way to curb the depletion of the forests.
He said a campaign similar to the one against the HIV/AIDS pandemic should be launched because "the forest zone is alarmingly being ruined through haphazard exploitation".
Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of Defence commended the Ghana Armed Forces for embarking on a massive afforestation programme as a result of the good things they learnt on their peace keeping operations abroad.
Mr Francis Agbotse, NDC Ho-West, urged members to encourage schools, communities and farmers in their constituencies to establish woodlots.
He said he had without any cost to himself and others succeeded in mobilising his constituent through education to undertake tree planting adding that financial inducement was not necessary.
Dr Kwabena Adjei, NDC-Biakoye, said he was happy that the NPP members of Parliament have now realised the deforestation of the country and were now calling for a solution to the problem.
He said when the NDC passed the Forestry Act and introduced the Timber Utilisation Contract Programme and was enforcing the law to ban chainsaw operations the NPP used it to campaign against them.
"Now that the 'baby elephants' have learnt their lessons that it is not every issue that should be politicised, the Minority would co-operate and support the government to tackle the problem for the benefit of the country."
Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, NDC-Fanteakwa expressed regret that the activities of chain-saw operators was leading to massive destruction of cocoa and food crop farms in his constituency and urged the Forestry Division to check it.
Nayon Bilijo, NDC-Saboba called for the effective implementation of the Timber Utilisation Programme to stem the depletion of the forest.
GRi…/
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