Pit Sawers Deplete Community Forests

Illegal pit sawers are reportedly depleting various community forests in Grand Gedeh County. According to our correspondent, the Grand Gedeh Forest Forum, a community based forest management organization, said some unscrupulous individuals (pit sawers) without permit from the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) were depleting forests in the county.

James Duogbay, Chairman of the Grand Gedeh Forest Forum, told this paper the pit sawers have not reached any social agreement with community residents to operate.

“Most of them do not have permits from the Forestry Development Authority or FDA,” Duogbay said. It may be recalled that the District Commissioner of B’hai Administrative District in Gbarzon Statutory District in Grand Gedeh County Jackson Quinwon, recently cited pit sawers in his district to review their operations.

“Some community members were pocketing or benefitting from the pit sawers directly,” one elderly woman told this paper in Toe Town.