95% of timber dealers in Kumasi operate without licences – Timber Monitoring Team
A tour of sawn timber markets in Kumasi has revealed that over ninety-five percent of industry players are operating without licences.
Recent inspections of timber markets in Kumasi have uncovered that more than ninety-five percent of industry participants are operating without proper licenses. Alhaji Mohammed Doku, the director of the Timber Monitoring Team, who spearheaded the investigation, expressed concern over the prevalence of illegal logging and the difficulty in tracing the origin of wood.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement with timber sellers across five wood markets in Kumasi, the team's goal was to promote documentation, safeguard forest reserves, and improve wood tracking nationwide. The team's research indicates that approximately five thousand individuals are directly involved in wood trade within Kumasi, with potentially four times as many working indirectly.
However, many traders and workers in the sector lack adequate documentation, resulting in their timber being seized by authorities during transit. Due to this issue, the Timber Monitoring Team has committed to assisting dealers in obtaining the necessary registrations, believing that proper documentation would prevent law enforcement from disrupting their business operations.
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