Farmers lose maize farms in forest reserve

Atronie (B/A), Nov. 25, GNA - Disaster struck about 15 settler farmers when their farms totalling 70 acres were destroyed on the orders of Mr. Michael Gyasi-Mensah, Site Manager of Ayum Plantations Amama Forest Reserve Restoration Project at Atronie.

The farms were located in a degraded Compartment 21 area of the deforested Amama Forest Reserve being reforested by Ayum Forest Products (AFP), a timber and sawmilling company at Mim in Asunafo South District. Mr. Kwasi Lampo, Sunyani Municipal National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Coordinator, told the Ghana News Agency at the site that the destruction was "a disaster, from the humanitarian and socio-economic point of view".

He said the action lasted from Wednesday, November 18 till Friday November 21, 2009 and that labourers would have destroyed more farms had it not been the commencement of police investigations into the matter. Mr. Gyasi-Mensah said "as a forester I felt the need and every right to protect government lands from being encroached upon". He said reforestation of the reserve, which had been "highly degraded" began in 2002 and "Compartment 21 is earmarked for reservation for geographical purposes by the Forest Services Division (FSD) of the Forestry Commission (FC)".

He said the farmers had officially been allocated with plots of farmlands at Compartments 25, 26 and 27 in the reserve where they had cultivated and harvested maize in the major farming season. Mr. Asakiyire Akoloba, a spokesman for the farmers, said they borrowed money to undertake the venture but they restrained themselves from any violent reaction for the sake of peace in the Atronie community.