NGO urges government to review stumpage fees on forest products

Mr. Raphael Godlove Ahenu, Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF), a human right and anti-corruption media advocacy organization, on Tuesday called for a review of stumpage fees on forest products.

He alleged the country was losing millions of dollars from the forestry sector annually because the government and for that matter the Forestry Commission had failed to review the stumpage fees which the law mandated to be done every quarter.

Mr. Ahenu told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani that investigations had revealed that the last time the fees were reviewed was in 2003, a period the government revenue from the forestry sector jumped from $4 million to $19 million.

He said Ghana could gain $70 million revenue annually from the timber sector if the government implemented the approved new stumpage fees on timber.

Mr Ahenu said when approved and implemented the new stumpage fee on a log of mahogany would be GH¢84.01 instead of the current GH¢24.27 while Afromosia log would also jump from GHC50.87 to GH¢126.24 with that of Odum log increasing from GH¢25.16 to GH¢94.49.

Source: GNA