Scanstyle to import timber?

Mim (Brong Ahafo) 23 July '99

Scanstyle Mim Limited, a leading manufacturer and exporter of furniture, is to import timber logs from Gabon and Cameroun due to increasing shortage of the raw material, particularly Odum in the country.

Mr Abdul Nasser Owusu, Factory co-ordinator of the company, said the decision was due to the "dwindling presence of certain timber species in the country".

"My company is compelled to resort to log imports to sustain its operations", Mr Owusu told Dr Christina Amoako-Nuama, Minister of Lands and Forestry at Mim on Wednesday.

Dr Amoako-Nuama is on a familiarisation tour of timber firms in the Brong Ahafo Region .

Mr Owusu said because the company has no concessions of its own, it has been relying on other firms for logs "but massive reduction in the population of certain timber species in recent times has resulted in irregular and inadequate supplies".

"We have therefore been compelled by the situation to initiate arrangements for the importation of logs from either Gabon or the Cameroun so as to sustain our production to meet our contractual agreements with our foreign customers."

Mr Owusu said the company currently losses about 1.5 million pounds steeling annually because it is unable to get adequate raw materials from local sources to meet the demand of its new international customers.

Mr Owusu appealed to the ministry to give a favourable response to the company's application for a timber utilisation contract to enable it to source raw materials from within the country.

"The company is doing so much to add value to our timber in addition to boosting the country's export revenues and it is important that it is assisted to acquire a concession of its own to enhance its efficiency'' he stressed.

Mr Abraham Adjei-Mensah, the personnel manager, said the company has established tree farms on a massive scale but its efforts were being hampered by the lack of seedlings of timber species such as Odum.

Mr Edward Obiaw, the operations manager of the Forestry Department, said the Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), has successfully developed seedlings of Odum and other species.

He therefore advised Scantyle and other companies interested in establishing plantations to contact FORIG for assistance.

Dr Amoako-Nuama commended the company for its integrated approach to production and for adding value to Ghana's timber as well as reducing wastage to the barest minimum.