The District Agricultural Officer (DAO) Kenema Mohamed Alpha Bah has disclosed that massive destruction is going on in the Kambui hill over looking Kenema city, a situation he described as alarming. He said if the situation is not controlled all residents will soon run away from Kenema.
The DAO made this disclosure during a one day stakeholders meeting held at Kenema District Council hall along Nyandeyama road in Kenema aim at putting strategies in place for the formulation of revenue collection from forest and non forest products.
Addressing the meeting Mohamed Alpha Bah the District Agricultrue Officer Kenema said they are meeting with the councils because a lot of problems have been experienced in the district in relation to the forest especially the Kambui hill adding a lot of people are having some problems between the council and the ministry of Agriculture forestry department about revenue collection.
He maintained that there is a lot of destructions that are going on in the Kambui forest, such as logging, mining of gold and stone and charcoal burning and constructions. He disclosed that people have put concrete on the road by themselves in the hill which vehicles are using to go up the hill to collect forest products like timber, stones, charcoal a situation he said is very serious.
He highlighted some effect of deforestation as too much heat, destruction of ecosystem and flooding which is usually common in Kenema.
He said the local government Act gave them the permission to give 20% of revenue collected to the council while the government forestry Act gave the mandate to forestry to control forestry product. The district officer disclosed that before now the ministry and other stakeholders have sat together with the council and put modalities in place where the council get their 20% on the spot, a situation they have laid to rest in this part of the country in terms of revenue collection.
He said they will soon sign an MOU to stand as a document between the two parties MAFFS and the council even thought the ministry is devolved to the council and it is not all areas that have been devolved by government to the council.
Assistant Director of Community Forestry Division Alpha Umaru Leigh said as a ministry they have started taking a stance by increasing the cost of licenses for power saws across the country with the aim of preventing power saw operators from destroying the remaining forests in the country. He said government is now taking very strict measures to put a stop to illegal logging and any one caught defying the law will be charged to court and fined and then go to jail together as punishment. He called on all and sundry to come together in making Sierra Leone a nice place to live. He said people cut trees and they do not replant saying one tree can give life to more than ten people per year and if they remove all the trees every body will run away from Kenema. He urged the ministry and the councils to embark on tree reaforestation of their areas at chiefdom levels.
The Chief Administrator Kenema District Council Philip Sama said the problem on revenue collection between the ministry and the councils will only be laid to rest across the country when the government fully devolves the ministry’s functions to the Council.
By Saffa Moriba
Tuesday June 28, 2016
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