By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
Chief Security Officer, CSO, to a consortium of Chinese investors, dealing in splitted white wood in Efii clan, Okuni community, Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, Mr. Raymond Okongor, has berated the Executive Director of Rainforest Resources and Development Centre, RRDC, Prince Odey Oyama, over deriding comments made against his employers.
Reacting to comments credited to Oyama making the rounds in an online news medium, where he Oyama alleged that the Chinese entrepreneurs have no immigration permit or concession to function in the state, Okongor stated that the Chinese nationals are not illegal immigrants, but entrepreneurs who have their papers intact.
Oyama had in the publication, which trended last week alleged that the Chinese entrepreneurs had no permits or concession agreements issued to them by the Forestry Commission of Cross River State, authorising them to participate in any business venture in the area.
But speaking to CompassNG in a telephone conversation, on the issue, the CSO stated that RRDC ED has failed in his responsibility of carrying out background check on the profile of the Chinese entrepreneurs, who had so many youths from tbe community employed in their factory, which buys only white wood.
In his reaction to the “urgent call for government intervention in Effi pristine rainforest ecological crises,” made in one of the dailies by Asare Asare, where he author alleged that Chinese nationals where exploiting wood from Effi community forest,” Okongor said, “There are no Chinese nationals in Effi community forest of Cross River State.
“The white soft wood you see in the Chinese yard substantially does not come from Okuni forest, but from Boki and Obubra.
“The Chinese are only stationed at the gate of their yard, and local loggers supply them with the white wood.
“The woods are soft wood gotten from gmalina, tick and umbrella trees, which do not have any record with the forestry commission.
“Besides that, the Cross River State government has lifted ban on logging. What is this thing that they are making noise about?”
Okongor stressed that series of petitions filed against the Chinese nationals, who had engaged lot of community youths in the particles board and building materials enterprise, prompted the chairman of Forestry Commission, Dr. George O’benechi, to visit Effi community to see things for himself.
“I have gone through comments credited to the RRDC, let me say emphatically that the Chinese nationals are not logging in Okuni.
“These logs that you see are from Obubra, Boki and Etung by local loggers, the Chinese wait at the gate of their yard to collect the wood from our local
loggers.
“Chinese nationals have nothing to do in Effi Okuni forest. The wood that they buy from Effi community forest are the most commonest type of wood that sprouts from the base of the trees that are cut down. three weeks after the tree is cut down from the trunk.”
Calls put across by our correspondent to get reaction of RRDC ED, Prince Oyama, failed as his telephone line failed to go through as at the time of filing in this report.
Effort to also get the input of chairman, Cross River State Forestry Commission, Dr. George Obenechi, yielded no fruit as at the filing in this report.
