Skip to main content

Report calls for amendment of FC act to provide more powers


By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Expres

A report on the review of the legislative proposals for the implementation of the 2012 forest and wildlife policy called for an amendment to the Forestry Commission (FC) Act 1999, (Act 571) to provide the commission the power to regulate broadly off-reserve areas.

The review of the final report was tasked by the Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources and was made available in June 2016.

The report argued that the Forestry Commission Act mandates the commission to manage the national forest reserves and protected areas. However, the Act does not extend that power to off- reserves areas.

The report said the Forest Commission has however fashioned a practice where it regulates the allocation of off-reserves resources thorough the grant of permits. “This is also in a draft state in the Off-Reserve L.I that has been presented to Parliament more than once, but it yet to be laid on the floor of Parliament and passed,” it stated.

The report also noted that there should be continuously survey and inventories all off-reserve potential timber production areas, and constitute them into forest management units, covered by forest management plans with active involvement of the local landowners.

It called for developing the capacities of decentralized local institutions including the, Metropolitan Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs), Traditional Authorities, and Civil Society organizations in sustainable “off-reserve” timber resources and non-timber products (NTFP’s) management.

The consultant also recommends the insertion of a provision, requiring the Forestry Commission to undertake the regulation with the involvement of local landowners and Community members.

It also recommends the amendment of the Timber Resources Management Act to provide for the regulation of the permitting regime in off-reserve areas and to subject them to similar process, as that of a Timber Utilization Contract.

“The Forestry Commission Act should be amended to provide a direct duty on the commission to regulate small and medium scale forest industries,” the report stated.

The report said the Timber Resources Management Act should be amended to grant a resource right to small medium scale concessions.


“Consequently a Small Scale Forest Regulation should be adopted which will address largely issues of licences of small/medium scale enterprises; qualification of applicant for license; conditions and duration of grant of licence; and establishment of community based small/medium scale forest enterprises,” said the report.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vodafone sells 45% shares in Verizon for US$130 billion

Vodafone has sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to US telecoms group Verizon Communications in one of the biggest deals in corporate history. The US$130 billion (£84bn) deal was announced by Vodafone after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange. The company will return £54 billion to its shareholders, of which £22 billionn will go to shareholders in the UK. Vodafone will also invest money in its business, with funds earmarked for high speed mobile phone networks. It said that by 2017 its main five European markets would have almost complete 4G coverage. Possibly it would be wrong to carp and wring hands that Vodafone won't be paying a penny of tax to the British taxman” Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said: "The transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue our leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for consumers and enterprises, both in our developed markets and across our emerging markets businesses." The...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shortage of weighing cards hit major hospitals in Accra

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express There is scarcity of Child Health Records Book (weighing cards), in some major public hospitals in the capital, information reaching the Daily Express indicates. Checks by this paper revealed that while some of the hospitals have being encountering the shortage for about a year now, others started experiencing it six months ago. In place of the Child Health Record Book (weighing card), the nursing mothers are given a single card on which information of children are recorded on it. Those hospitals identified are the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, Kaneshie Polyclinic, Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nursing mothers are given yellow cards in place of the weighing cards. The Public Relations Secretariat at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said such information has not come to their notice and for that matter they cannot comment on it. “We do not have some ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ABL launches chibuku super in Bolgatanga

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong sarpong007@gmail.com Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) has officially launched the Chibuku Super drink at Bolgatanga in the Upper East region with the aim of reaching a lot of customers. Mr. Thomas Nii Ponku, Supervisor in charge of Chibuku Super at ABL told Daily Express that the management decided to launch the Chibuku Super drink in the Upper East region because they’ve realized it is similar to a traditional drink in the region. “Chibuku is like a well developed pito, a traditional drink made from fermented millet or sorghum in the Northern part of Ghana. So the idea is to provide them with similar drink,” he added. Mr. Nii Ponku disclosed this when members of the Institute of Finance and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) toured the facility of ABL to acquaint themselves with the expansion project at the factory. He mentioned that after a feasibility study, they realized there is a potential market for the product in the northern part of Ghana ...
Post a Comment
Read more