District Assemblies Advised On Timber Royalties

Offinso (Ash) - District Assemblies have been advised to stop blaming the Forestry Department for their inability to secure adequate share of timber royalties and rather consult the Administrator of Stool Lands to rectify the situation. Mr Steve Nyarko, Offinso District Forestry Officer, said this is because the disbursement and payment of stool land royalties from forest revenue was solely the responsibility of the Administrator of Stool Lands. Mr Nyarko was reacting to complaints from certain quarters seeking to put the lapses in the disbursement of royalties from forest revenue at the doorsteps of the Forestry Department at a briefing with the Ghana News Agency at Offinso. He said the role of the department in respect of royalties from timber is solely to submit all revenue accruing from the forest to the Administrator of Stool Lands whose mandate it is to make payments based on where the revenue comes from. Mr Nyarko noted that until the inception of the district assembly concept and the 1992 constitution, complaints regarding anomalies in payment of such royalties were minimal since royalties were disbursed to only the Administrator of Stool Lands and the stools. He said the problem began to escalate with the creation of new districts and traditional councils from old and existing ones which are also entitled to have a share of the resources from the land.