President's Initiative failed to meet target

Accra, Feb. 6, GNA- Mr. Joseph Aidoo, the National President of the Environmentally Concerned Citizen Association of Ghana (ECCAG) on Friday said the target of 18,000 hectares of the President's Special Initiative on Tree Planting last year was not met.

Mr. Aidoo said this after the executives of the Association had toured the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Western regions to monitor the initiative on Tree Planting.

This was contained in a statement issued in Accra and signed by its president.

The statement noted that not more than 12,000 hectares, representing 66 per cent of the target, had been cultivated. Mr. Aidoo said most of the land for the President's Initiative, especially in Brong Ahafo, had been cultivated into food crops while some companies granted land at Pamu Brekum for the initiative had abandoned the project.

He accused some Forestry Officials of operating their own private nurseries for personal gains instead of promoting the President's Initiative.

The statement called on the government not to give out fresh land under the programme this year, but ensure that the ones already given out had been put into good use.

Mr. Aidoo appealed to the government to set up a special Task Force to monitor the project and the activities of the forestry officials to ensure that targets were met.