Harvesting of Hardwoods in Lake Volta Delays

EXECUTION OF the first phase of the project to harvest tree stumps in the Volta Lake by Clark Sustainable Resource Developments (CSRD) Limited has delayed due to technical problems, the Minister of Railways, Ports and Habours, Prof Christopher Ameyaw Ekumfi has said.

The project was to start last week but there was nothing to show for it.

The minister was even unable to say when the project was starting.

Speaking on Joy FM News yesterday, the minister said CSRD under estimated the task of the project. The minister said CSRD initially wanted to use local equipment but had to go back to get companies to manufacture vessels that would suit the water terrain of Lake Volta.

"Building such vessels takes time," he stressed. Another factor the minister said had contributed to the delay was environmental issue that cropped up and had to be solved with the communities around the lake.

CSRD anticipated that the first phase of its joint venture will extend from November last year to February 2009, and will cost $10 to $20 million.

It will cover adapting and testing technology, acquiring operating equipment, sampling and inventory and some initial harvesting.

Ghana's main water body, Lake Volta, is 25 kilometres wide and extends 450 kilometres upstream behind Akosombo Dam, which produces electricity for Ghana. The lake is also used for fishing and transportation, and provides water for domestic and industrial use.

But this lake's bounty runs deeper. Southern Ghana contains forests of tall and valuable West African hardwoods such as mahogany, odum and ebony. Ghana's savannah is also home to shea trees, acacias and baobabs.

They can all be found in the drowned forest beneath the surface of Lake Volta. Deprived of oxygen, which fuels the normal decay process, and protected from insects and bacteria that cannot exist underwater, the hardwoods have retained their saleability.

A study conducted in 2001 by an American company vying for the same contract estimated that each tree represented a wholesale value of US$60,000. The same study claimed that because of the size of the lake, it would take more than 120 years to exhaust the underwater forest of hardwoods.

The contract which consists of a multi-year, two-phase project slated was to begin after a year of mobilization and planning. According to the agreement, once the harvesting, processing and marketing of Lake Volta timber is underway, Ghana will receive 20 per cent of the wood, while 80 per cent will go to Clark Resources.

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