Due to the continuous forest damage brought on by bushfires, 75 out of 100 local lumber production enterprises have collapsed, putting Ghana at risk of spending millions of cedis on imported timber.
Industry insiders caution that the 25 surviving businesses in the Western North, Eastern, and Central Regions may close as a result of their inability to obtain raw materials.
In an interview with Citi Business News, Dr. Kwame Asamoah Adam, the chief executive officer of the Ghana Timber Millers Organization, voiced these worries.
He stated:
Now, in terms of the numbers, the medium to large size companies, most of them have collapsed. So, coming from a figure of about 100 companies now, you have just about 25 that are surviving, operating, exporting, and also providing employment”
“Now, in terms of the materials that are coming in, in terms of round logs, it has reduced in quantity from about 1.2 million m³ about 20 years ago to now just around 500,000 million. The reduction in raw materials is attributed mainly to a decline in the production areas”.
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