The Forestry Commission has rated Kete Krachi Timber Recovery Limited (KKTR) – a wholly Ghanaian-owned company operating the Lake Volta timber recovery concession – as one of the leading exporters of timber products by species for Ghana in December 2019.

In its Export Performance Report for December 2019 released earlier this year, the Forestry Commission indicated that the top-five species include Teak, Wawa, Mahogany, Cedrela and Papao/Apa for which KKTR is one of the leading exporters.

In the lumber (Air-dried) category, Kete Krachi Timber Recovery was once again mentioned in the Forestry Commission report as one of the seven leading exporters.

Coming up for recognition by the Forestry Commission barely 13 months after its inauguration as a One District One Factory project by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, KKTR’s achievement according to Mr. Elkin Pianim, Chief Executive of KKTR” “Is not only the result of hard work and dedication by staff of the company, but also unstinting support from the 1D1F Secretariat in helping to navigate the bureaucratic obstacles encountered when doing business in Ghana”.

Mr. Pianim stressed that the wood KKTR exports is not from felling living trees in Ghana’s depleted forest, but rather from wood hitherto submerged under Lake Volta for over 55 years after construction of the Akosombo Dam in 1965 – thus, “In effect, KKTR contributes positively to environmental sustainability of the country’’.

In a remark, KKTR’s Chairman, Mr. Francis Mawuena Kalitsi, was of the view that the company’s positive role far exceeds the export of salvaged wood but also includes the clearance of stumps from Lake Volta to assure safe transportation channels for citizens living in the 1,660 communities abutting Lake Volta, as well as helping to solve the problem of rural unemployment.