Minister Assures Timber Company Of Payment Of Salaries

Accra, (Greater Accra) 3 Oct.,

Mr. Cletus Avoka, Minister of Lands and Forestry today assured the management of Gliksten West Africa Limited, a leading timber company, that efforts are being made to pay salary arrears of its workers. Workers of the company, he said, should therefore exercise restraint until his ministry finds a solution to the problem. Mr. Avoka gave the assurance in an interview with the Ghana News agency in reaction to an editorial carried by the "Ghanaian Times" in its Monday, September 29th issue in which, it alleged that, workers of the company have not been paid for the past 10 months. Gliksten West Africa in Sefwi Wiawso has been on divestiture for the past five years. He said he shares the anxiety and concern expressed by the editorial and charged the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) to expedite action on the divesting of the company. Mr. Avoka was optimistic that by the time DIC completed divesting Gliksten the problem of salary arrears of its workers might have been addressed. On the proper and effective management of the country's forests to check deforestation, Mr. Avoka said a new act that has received cabinet approval would soon be laid before Parliament. Under the law concessionaires would be expected to employ experienced technical men to man their concessions. The minister said concessionaires would also be expected to provide efficient equipment coupled with sound financial backing and provide the people with their basic needs while they in turn "policed" the concessions. He was optimistic that these measures would help bring sanity into the forest industry by minimizing subletting, the illegal operations of ''greedy'' chain-saw operators and the illegal felling of trees. The Minister said the protection of the country's natural resources belong to both the present and future generations and urged all citizens to ensure that the forests are not depleted.