The Savannah Regional Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jibril has promised to stop logging and commercial production of charcoal within one month.
He made the promise in an interview with the media minutes after taking over office on Monday, March 15, 2021.
Mr. Jibril who served as the MCE for West Gonja in the last four years took over from Salifu Braimah Adam at a short ceremony at the Regional Coordinating Council in Damongo on Monday.
He said the menace of logging and commercial production of charcoal will be tackled head-on and brought to a stop within a month
“We have tried so many times to stop illegal logging in my days as MCE for West Gonja, unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. I promised during my vetting that I will stop illegal logging in the region, so I will meet REGSEC within a week and set up a working committee to stop the menace,” Mr. Jibril said.
He also said commercial production of charcoal will be stopped as well.
According to him, “charcoal burning in commercial quantities is causing more harm to the environment than even the illegal logging, so these are the areas I’m going to look at.”
“I will in the next one-month stop commercial charcoal burning and also the illegal logging in the region,” he stressed.
Logging of various tree species in the Savannah Region for export and commercial production of charcoal has been a thorny issue.
Not even bans placed by the Overlord of Gonja the Yagbonwura and committees of the Regional Coordinating Council have yielded the desired results with experts warning of dire consequences for Savannah Ecological Zone and Ghana in a few years if the menace is not stopped.
Source:Fiilfmonline/CitiNews
