The Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture has said in Freetown that the recent moves, by the New Direction to set up a Timber Governance Agency, comprising of Board of Directors and a National Timber Secretariat, do not resonate with the country’s commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on International Trade and Engendered Species and many others.
In a position statement, the Forestry Division made it very clear that they would only support strategies and policies if they are in line with the UN Conventions on the environment and other national legislations.
Many have viewed the creation of the Timber Agency as an attempt to dwarf the legally constituted Forestry Division of the Agriculture Ministry, which has suffered considerable neglect in the hands of past regimes.
A seasoned environmentalist, who spoke to this medium, noted that Government should have strengthened the Forestry Division rather than creating a parallel institution. It is a fact that the Forestry Division has not been performing its mandate largely due to the lack of adequate budgetary provision over the years.
Even though the Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture had noted that they are not a party to the creation of the Agency and would not support its creation, a release from the Chief Minister’s office has categorically stated, amongst other things, that the Ministry of Agriculture will be the lead on all processes to the creation of the Agency and Secretariat, while also overseeing reforestation and aforestation activities between the transition phase, which is May and October 2019.
Why the Forestry Division would openly challenge the move by the Chief Minister’s office speaks volumes about the coordination efforts of the New Direction Government.
It is an embarrassment for both the Chief Minister’s office and the Minister of Agriculture, who should have had detailed discussions on the issues before making them public. How this saga will end we will bring you more updates.