Government has handed over 13 impounded containers containing Rosewood to the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) for a comprehensive investigation.
The investigation seeks to unravel persons and circumstances behind the importation of the commodity into the country.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, disclosed this when he inspected the confiscated Rosewood containers in Tema yesterday.
The Minister stated that the country, under the instructions of President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had placed an outright ban on Rosewood harvesting and trade, hence the confiscation of the commodity.
He said based on the provision of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), five countries in the West African sub-region are not allowed to trade in Rosewood. The countries are Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Senegal.
Policies
He also indicated that Government in the coming months would roll out new policies for impounded Rosewood to be used by the state for various purposes, including production of furniture for schools.
He said the current measures by the Government on the Rosewood seizure is what had led the Ministry and, for that matter, Government to confiscate the number of illegal Rosewoods.
“We are convinced that there is a very sophisticated cartel involved in this trade, and we think that the National Security can unravel. That is why we have requested the National Security architecture to assist the Ministry to unravel and enable us better understand the issues and circumstances surrounding the operations of this cartel,” he said.
The noted that the fight against Rosewood trade and exportation is about “our country, natural resources of our country, the forest cover, about the climate of our country, and the fight for all of us”.
