Forestry Commission Meets With Yagbonwura

The Board of Directors and some senior executives of the Forestry Commission have met Yagbonwura Tuntumba Bore Essa I, Overlord of the Gonja Traditional Area and his elders as part of a fact-finding mission to understand the concerns of stakeholders of the Commission.

The meeting, which took place at the Jakpa Palace at Damongo in the West Gonja District, afforded Yagbonwura and his elders the opportunity to state their concerns about the operations of the Forestry Commission in Gonjaland.

Prominent amongst the concerns raised by the Yagbonwura, through his Linguist, were non-payment of compensation to land owners whose lands formed part of the Forestry Commission’s stake in the Gonjaland, non-availability of arable lands for farming and destruction of food crops of farmers deemed to encroach on the facility of the Forestry Commission.

The Forestry Commission owns a lot of stake in the Gonjaland including forest reserves and plantations, the Mole National Park and its reserved zones or catchment areas.

Mr Edward Prah, the Board Chairman of the Forestry Commission, said understanding the concerns of the stakeholders would put the Board in a better position to take evidence-based decisions.

Mr Prah spoke about the concerns raised by Yagbonwura saying “some are rooted in law and cannot be changed” but others that could be addressed would be taken on board.

He said the Forestry Commission was working to encourage private capital to partner with it to further develop the tourism potential of its facilities to attract more tourists for increased revenue generation.

The Board of Directors had earlier met with staff of the Forestry Commission in the Northern Region to learn about their concerns and how such concerns could be addressed to enhance productivity.  

Source: GNA