Accra, Aug. 8, GNA - The Timber and Woodworkers Union (TWU) of the Ghana TUC has urged Parliament to enact laws making it mandatory for all companies in the timber industry to undertake afforestation projects, to enhance the country's policy of sustainable forest resources. This was contained in a wide-range of issues raised in a resolution adopted at the end of the Union's three-day 7th quadrennial delegates conference in Cape Coast at the weekend.

The delegates noted with grave concern the alarming rate at which the country's forests were being degraded, coupled with population growth, bushfires and poor farming practices.

TWU, a wood-based union, commended the government on its initiative on plantation development programmes and called for transparency in the disbursement of the Plantation Development Fund to entice greater patronage.

The conference held that since the timber industry contributed about six percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it was imperative that the numerous problems plaguing it shout be effectively curbed, to ensure increased productivity and alarming lay-offs. The delegates observed that a major problem facing the industry had been the dwindling forest cover, which was quoted to have reduced from 8.3 million hectares in the early 1950s to only about 1.03 million hectares and attributed the trend to unsustainable forest management, poor farming practices, illegal logging and other related activities.

The delegates expressed regret that the industry had been the hardest hit by the constant reviews and new legislations, regulations with varied forms of taxation and levies, which directly affected the operational efficiency of the trade in the area of social responsibility agreements, stumpage fees, export levy, fuel cost and others causing the collapse of some companies and resulting in job losses.

They appealed to government to introduce some remedial interventions "to resuscitate the dying industry".

The conference re-elected all its national officers led by Mr Alex K Bonney, National Chairman and Mr Owusu Bempah, First National Vice-chairman, with Ms Georgina Smedley, Second Vice-chairperson. The rest were: Mr Joshua Ansah, General Secretary, Mr I K Nkrumah, Deputy General Secretary, Mr Eric Yeboah, First National Trustee and Mr Sampson Yalley, Second National Trustee.

More than 260 delegates and observer throughout the country attended the TWU conference, the third national union to do so as a prelude to the TUC delegated congress slated for next year.