NATIONAL FOREST PLANTATION DEV PLAN IN OFFING (SPREAD)

A National forest plantation development programme is to be rolled out by the government to restore the dwindling forest cover of the country.
Already, the Cabinet has given its endorsement to the programme, which is also expected to create 30,000 jobs from its inception and contribute to a reduction in rural poverty.
Taking his turn at the meet the press series, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, said the immediate objective of the programme was to increase the tree cover of the country through a massive recruitment of reforestation gangs.
The programme, according to him, is also intended to improve environmental quality, reduce the wood deficit and provide an avenue for the country to tap the emerging benefits from climate change markets for carbon and sequestration projects, he said.
The minister said by the end of 2011 about 50,000 jobs would have been created in the 170 districts throughout the country, with each of the 170 beneficiary districts employing a quota of 300 workers for the plantation in that district.
He said the long-term goal of the plantation development initiative was to develop a sustainable forest resource base that would satisfy future demands for industrial timber and enhance environmental quality, thereby reducing pressure on existing natural forests.
On the mining sub-sector, Alhaji Dauda said currently seven draft regulations had been submitted to the Attorney- General’s Department for review to meet the challenges in the mining sector.
The draft regulations, he said, included the draft Mineral (Royalties) Regulations, draft Mines (Support Services) Regulations, draft Explosives (Mining and civil) Regulations and draft Regulations on Health and Safety.
He said when all seven draft regulations were passed into law, most of the concerns of the public regarding the mining sector, especially conflict between mining companies and the communities affected by mining, would be reduced.
Alhaji Dauda said, for example, that the compensation paid for crops was woefully inadequate and the purpose of the regulations was to review the compensation upward, explaining that a mature cocoa tree attracted compensation of GH¢9.5, which was too small.