Previous government denies Timber Contract allegations

Accra, Aug. 18, GNA - The National Democratic Congress on Monday denied allegations of malfeasance in the award of Timber Utilization Contracts (TUCs) to qualified firms during its administration. Rather, it said, laid down procedure set out in the law had been followed diligently to ensure that the country's forest resources are sustainably managed.

Speaking at a press conference to debunk the claim in a section of the media, Alhaji Collins Dauda, former Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry, said, while the NPP Government reserves the right to undertake policy reforms, it must not accuse unnecessarily the previous government of illegalities in giving out of the contracts.

The New Patriotic Party Government has on the assumption of power cancelled 42 TUCs granted by the previous government, he said. Alhaji Dauda described as untenable the government's reason that it was cancelling the contracts because of petitions it received from some Timber Contractors, since no such petitions came before the Parliamentary Committee during the consideration of the contracts. Alhaji Dauda said the bidding process was done in a transparent manner with the criteria for evaluation of bids enacted by Parliament based on the recommendation of the subsidiary legislation committee, which was then chaired by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is now the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the contracts duly ratified by Parliament.

"It is strange therefore, to understand why some Timber Contractors, who I believe participated in the process and lost out will complain about transparency at this time when due process as outlined was religiously followed."

On the performance bond, Alhaji Dauda said that the Minister for Lands and Forestry is not required under the Timber Resources Management Act 1997 or LI 1649 to endorse the Performance Bond.

Besides, the endorsement of the Performance Bond is not the completion of the allocation procedure since the constitution vests the grant of any transaction contract of right and concession for exploitation of any mineral, water or other natural resources of the country to ratification by Parliament.

"I consider the issue of endorsement of the Performance Bond by the Minister as a blow below the belt," he said, adding that the Parliamentary ratification of the contract in November 2000 completed the allocation procedure.

Alhaji Dauda said the allocation of TUCs for duration of 40 years does not contravene the Administration of Lands Amendment Decree 1975 (AFRCD 61) as is being alleged.

He argued that the previous government awarded the contracts for such a period based on the guidelines of a logging manual, which recommended that timber production areas are to be managed on a 40-year cutting circle to allow sufficient regeneration.

"The logging manual is part of Act 547 and one of the records that shows why the thresholds were exceeded in the national interest in line with the previous government commitment to sustainable management and development of the country's forest resources."

Alhaji Dauda said it is ironical that the Timber Resources Management (Amendment) Act 2002 Act 617, will enable the NPP government to grant TUCs for 40 years just as the previous government had done. He said the interpretation the present administration is given to AFRCD 61 to justify the cancellation is just an expression of an opinion

and cannot be used to overturn a Parliamentary decision. Alhaji Dauda accused the government of putting a premium on the highest bidder under the present competitive bidding process to the detriment of sound environmental management with emphasis on afforestation or reforestation.

"I have closely studied the Timber Resources Management (Amendment) Regulations 2003 LI 1721. Strangely, there is no provision that deals with afforestation or reforestation. For a law that is supposed to deal with the management of timber resources this is rather surprising," he said.

Alhaji Dauda said it is frightening that provisions of section 12 (10) of the LI 1721 gives government the right to use gambling in the form of lottery to allocate TUCs.

The provision reads: "Where there are two or more equal bids, the area shall be awarded to the bidder from amongst the equal highest bidders who offers the highest price and in the case of continued equal highest bids, the award shall be finally decided by a lottery amongst those highest bids."

He said a better alternative should have been adopted in the allocation rather than a resort to gambling. Alhaji Dauda challenged the Minister for Lands and Forestry to an open debate on the Timber Utilization Contracts. 18 Aug. 03