Forest Officers Sacked for Abetting Forest Destruction in Kenya
COPYRIGHT 2001 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
October 25, 2001
NAIROBI, October 25 - Eighty Kenyan forest officers have been sacked in the past year for abetting forest destruction in their areas, the Daily Nation newspaper reported on Thursday.
Mohammed Isahakia, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, was cited as saying that more such officers have been targeted for the sack for gross mismanagement of forest resources. Addressing provincial and district forest officers at a workshop on forest management recently held at the Karura Forest Station in central Kenya, Isahakia described forest officers in the country as a letdown to the government.
He said that foresters play a critical role in the management of natural resources, urging the officers to ensure that the remaining forest cover in the country will not be further damaged.
Earlier, Kenyan Environment and Natural Resources Minister Noah Ngala ordered the departments concerned to immediately start an emergency afforestation program at district level to replant 40, 000 hectares of forest land that have been decimated.
The minister also announced the formation of a task force to enhance tree planting throughout the country.
He asked forest officers to ensure that there is no charcoal burning in their areas of jurisdiction and to enforce the ban on transportation of timber and other forest products at night.