REGSEC impounds trucks loaded with lumber

Five articulated trucks loaded with illegal lumber have been impounded at Banda Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo Region. The lumber was meant for the Burkina  Faso market.

The arrest was effected by the Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC), led by the Regional Minister, Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, on their way from Banda Ahenkro to Sunyani after they had visited the area to ascertain the security situation there.

The security situation had become normal, while the residents were going about their duties during the visit of the regional minister.

Public sector workers, including teachers and nurses, had deserted their posts at Banda Ahenkro, the capital of the Banda District in the Brong Ahafo Region, for fear of their lives.

Following the action by the workers, the heath centre at Ahenkro and 40 schools in the district have been closed down.

The situation was occasioned by a notice that was posted at various public places by unidentified people who described themselves as “Concerned Members of Banda Ahenkro”, threatening that they were not ready to stay peacefully with “strangers” in the community.

According to Mr Asomah-Cheremeh, the trucks were accosted upon a tip-off from the police. The truck drivers were subsequently ordered to stop and produce their documents.

When the minister was not convinced about the authenticity of the documents, he asked the police to escort the trucks to Sunyani for the Forestry Commission to carry out thorough investigations into the source of the lumber.

Taskforce

He said the REGSEC would set up a special taskforce to assist the Forestry Commission to save the forest reserves in the region from further depletion.

According to Mr Asomah-Cheremeh, about four forest reserves at Dormaa had been depleted by the activities of illegal chainsaw operators.

The minister has, therefore, vowed to take tough measures against such activities to protect the various forest reserves in the region.

Police Commander

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwame Tachie Opoku, stated that the regional command, together with the Forestry Commission and the REGSEC, were taking adequate measures to beef up security at the various forest reserves.

According to him, through collaboration and cooperation with the Forestry Commission, “we will chase away chainsaw operators who are becoming a threat to the survival of the region’s natural resources.”

Background

Public sector workers, including teachers and nurses, have deserted their posts at Banda Ahenkro, the capital of the Banda District, for fear of their lives.

Following the action by the workers, a heath centre at Ahenkro and 40 schools in the district have been closed down.

The situation was occasioned by a notice that was posted at various public places by unidentified people who described themselves as “Concerned Members of Banda Ahenkro.”

They issued threats that they were not ready to stay peacefully with “strangers” in the community.