National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Builsa South Constituency in the Upper East East region, Dr Clement Apaak is of the view that government’s committee set up to probe the smuggling of Rosewood in Ghana may not be able to do a clean job.
“You can’t have the same entities to investigate themselves over allegations made against them. It will simply not give room for a thorough, honest and proper investigation and that is my biggest worry,” he said.
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To Dr Apaak, though he believes the report will be ready within the proposed time frame, he thinks the committee members should have been neutral people.
“In five weeks, we expect to see the report but within that period, we will continue to monitor, advocate and draw attention on such illegalities.
“That is why I would have thought that in all honesty, the committee should have been formed outside of all the entities and ministries that have been implicated as far as the Environmental Investigations Agency’s (EIA) report is concerned,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, monitored by Adomonline.com.
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Government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has inaugurated a seven-member committee to be led by Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural resources, Benito Owusu-Bio to investigate the findings of the US-based Agency’s (EIA) publication that reported that rosewood smuggling in Ghana was ongoing despite the ban.
Source: Adomonline.com | Gertrude Otchere
