Kete Krachi Timber Recovery Limited, (KKTR) operators of the Volta Lake Timber Concession under the One District Factory One Factory (1D1F) dispensation, stands out as a project living up to the aims and objectives of 1D1F in transforming rural livelihoods and bettering the economy of Ghana in general, Mr. Seth Kugblenu, Senior Programme Officer of the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation has observed.
Leading a monitoring team from the Office of the President to the Project Office of KKTR at Sedorm-Yiti in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region, to assess the impact of the Project, Mr. Kugblenu said the operations of KKTR were unique and environmentally friendly in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
He said the initiative of Management of the Project to introduce the diver-based concept in training local fishermen to dive to cut the stumps from under the Volta Lake in addition to the application of the Shallow Harvest Recovery Concept, (SHARC) equipment which was purposely manufactured for its operations, was commendable as it provided the opportunity to employ more local labor.
He appealed to state Agencies which have a role to play in enabling KKTR to perform to its peak to do so without hesitation as the Company has the potential to solve a number of problems including the provision of alternative source of timber, making the Lake Volta safe for transportation and fishing as well as enhancing aqua-culture.
Mr. Ali Marnah, the Production Manager and Mr. Prince Ofori Boateng, Health, Environment and Safety Officer of KKTR both took the monitoring team through the operations of the Company, disclosing that off-cuts of the timber recovered from the Lake are used in the production of charcoal in a controlled process that reduces Carbon Dioxide as compared to the traditional ‘bury and burn’ methods.
They said the Forestry Commission recently ranked KKTR as one of the leading exporters of timber products by species in the country ‘without cutting a single living tree’ and that the Diver-based timber salvage will also enable the company, which currently employ 129 people, to employ over 180 youth from communities abutting the Lake.
The monitoring team from the Office of the President was made up of officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation, Ministry of Trade and Industries, and the Asuogyaman District Assembly.
KKTR was inaugurated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in November 2018 as 1D1F.
