BY Bill W. Cooper
The Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union (LCTUD) says it has trained over four hundred Chainsaw mailers in Forest Management in Liberia pending the passage of the forest regulations law.
Speaking yesterday with a team of reporters, the institution’s financial officer Alvin Kanneh said those trained were taken from Rivercess, Grand Cape Mount, Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties disclosing an additional training for two counties through its counterpart early next year.
Kanneh who termed the completion of the training as a success for the industry noted that 120 members were trained in Rivercess, 90 persons in Grand Bassa, while 140 and 100 persons were also trained in Nimba and Margibi Counties respectively.
The training was geared towards equipping Chainsaw Mailers to ably manage the Liberian forest which is a major source of revenue generation of the country and highlighted the impact of their individual development.
“We will continue to train our members in order to protect the forest of Liberia because; it is our national heritage that if taken care of will help to raise the standard of living for our members and the citizens of Liberia. Our forest is one of the most valuables filled with lots of timbers, trees that are used for multiple reasons in the West African Sub region that many want to use illegally for their personal interest and not the interest of the country and as such; we are seriously in support of the passage of the forest regulations law of Liberia,” he said.
The Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union Executive noted that his institution sees the management of the Liberian forest as an achievement due to what he said will minimize the illegal usage of the forest.
According to him, their members are seriously affected on a daily basis by lots of people in the timber industry who are illegally operating in the forest especially areas where their members get their commodities from before any wood production on the Liberia market.
At the same time, Alvin Kanneh noted that money collected as due from members of their institution (Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union are used for the upkeep of the institution.
Meanwhile, The LICSADTUN Financial Officer has at the same time lavished praises on the Managing Director of the Forest Development Authority C. Mike Duyan for the level of cooperation subsisting between the two institutions.