Hand stiffer penalties to forest offenders —Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission has appealed to the courts to hand the maximum punishments under the law to illegal miners and other forest offenders as deterrent in order to protect the country’s forest reserves from destruction.
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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey, who made the call, stressed that when hefty penalties were handed perpetrators of such illegalities, it would deter others from infiltrating the forest reserves.
While commending some judges for being swift in handing punishment to forest offenders, he said going forward, persons found guilty of committing offences against the environment, particularly forest reserves, "must be handed stiffer punishment in the national interest."
Mr Allotey made the call in a speech delivered on his behalf at the passing out parade held for 81 personnel of the Rapid Response Team (RTT) of the Forestry Commission at the 64 Infantry Regiment base at Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region.
The speech was delivered by a deputy CEO of the Commission, Musah Superior, who inspected the parade at the passing out ceremony.
The team went through three weeks training in physical fitness, weapon handling, law enforcement, survival skills, basic tactics, first aid, map reading, leadership and communication skills.
Context
The Rapid Response Unit of the Forestry Commission is a specialised team assigned to address and combat illegal activities within the country’s forest reserves.
The RRT plays a crucial role in protecting forest reserves by responding swiftly to and addressing illegal activities that threaten the reserves.
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However, illegal miners who are armed with sophisticated weapons attack them while they perform their duties. Since 2017, the Forestry Commission has trained 1,104 staff of the RRT to prepare them to ward off attack by illegal miners.
Commitment
Mr Allotey said the training had become necessary because the Commission could not watch on for the RRT members to continue to suffer attack by poachers, illegal loggers and miners, who maim or kill them.
He stressed that the Forestry Commission was determined to protect its staff from attacks by unscrupulous persons whose aim was to destroy forest reserves.
"No longer will staff lose their lives because they were protecting the nation's natural resources, which is of high benefit to the present, current and unborn generations," he said
Graduates urged
The Rear Commander, 64 Infantry Regiment Training School, Lt.Col. Prince Frimpong Owusu, urged the graduates to make good use of the skills they had acquired.
He commended them for their resilience, dedication and professionalism during the training. The army officer urged the trained RRT not to be reckless in applying the skills they had acquired since that could be detrimental to the society.