Accra, July 6, GNA - The third competitive bidding for plantation timber was held in Accra on Friday after it had been postponed on three occasions due to misunderstandings between the major players and stakeholders.

The plantation timber bidding process was introduced a few years ago with the aim of bringing fairness and transparency in the allocation of timber resources.

The bidding process, which incidentally was the first for this year, brought together 97 companies that made bids for 24 plantation lots within five regions namely Volta, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Western and Eastern.

The Lots are plantation areas that were cultivated from 1969 to 1997 under the National Plantation Programme and consisted basically of Teak and Cidrela trees.

Deputy Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mr Andrews Adjei Yeboah, identified the main hindrance to the holding of the bidding sessions since last year as the question of the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) and court injunctions.

He said the Ministry had consulted with all relevant stakeholders on the issue and decided that VAT would henceforth be calculated as part of the reserve bid price for each Lot under tender. "In order to ensure that mistakes made in previous bidding processes are not repeated, the Forestry Commission has organised two training sessions for all prospective bidders, one in the Volta Region and the other in Kumasi," he said.

Mr Adjei Yeboah assured the bidders that the stocking levels of the areas under the current bidding process had been determined with high level of confidence and therefore bidders need not panic as was the case in the previous biddings.

He, however, cautioned prospective bidders that once a bid was accepted for a particular Lot, the bidder needed to be prepared to pay all the laid down fees and charges as stipulated by the Forestry Commission (FC).

"The ministry will therefore not hesitate to request the FC to apply the full and necessary sanctions on such defaulters," Mr Adjei Yeboah said.

Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, Chief Executive, Forestry Commission, urged prospective winners to ensure that they met their financial and social obligations within the specified timeframe after receiving their notice of grant letters.

"This will assist FC to maintain the credibility of the competitive bidding system and ensure that our forests are managed and utilized on a sustainable basis," he said. He assured all the bidders of a smooth, transparent, free and fair system with their cooperation and commitment.