Check these timber fraudsters

The news that foreigners, precisely Ivorians, have taken over timber plantations and illegally felling trees at Enchi in the Western Region is very distressing.

What makes the situation worse is the fact that some chiefs and opinion leaders within the Enchi Traditional area are abetting these Ivorians to engage in these illegal operations in our forests.

It is very sad to see this happen in the wake of measures being put in place to protect our forest reserves.

It is also heart bleeding to see our own people brazenly giving a helping hand to these Ivorians and aiding them to fell trees that we have spent time and resources on to grow.

In the Wednesday, 28th April, 2010 edition of Today, we reported that some chiefs and opinion leaders within the Enchi Traditional area were aiding some Ivorians to unlawfully fell trees and smuggle them out of the country to sell.

This development is obviously causing the nation to lose so much in revenue since these criminals evade taxes through the smuggling of trees in the western region.

Today is of the view that the government at the end of the day will need funds for infrastructural and development projects like roads, hospitals, schools among other things. Therefore waging war and clamping down operations of criminals like these Ivorians would do the country a lot of good.

It against this backdrop that we call on all stakeholders and policy makers in the forestry, lands and natural resource sectors to wage vigorous campaigns against illegal felling of trees in the country.

We at Today think that these activities would undoubtedly lead to the depletion of our forest reserves.

This brings to the fore the need for our security enforcement agencies to rise up to the challenge and check these practices that is capable of spelling doom for the country in the near future.

By so doing, it is prudent that our security border patrol teams keep eagle eyes on these criminals should do their work diligently without favouritism, nepotism that usually characterise their work.

This means that, any chief or opinion leader no matter his or her political colour should be arrested and prosecuted when caught engaging in these illicit activities.

The paper would also like to take this opportunity to charge inhabitants and residents of Enchi to report any chief or opinion leader who they know is involved in aiding illicit felling of trees by these Ivorians.