Timber producers call on government to expedite issuance of timber licences

Charles Masange, Timber Producers Association of Zambia president, has called on government to put in place measures to expedite the issuance of timber licences.

Masange in an interview on Monday said this would save the industry from collapsing.

He said politicians in the previous regime abused their powers and exploited the industry by acquiring licenses on behalf of foreigners, which was likely to be the case with the new dawn government.

“Since April last year, government has only issued licenses to small-scale timber producers, which are only valid for two years. It is disappointing that all valuable timber species have not been included in the small-scale timber licences,” Masange said.

He stated that the concession licenses should include the mukula timber species as it was the largest income earner in the industry.

Masange had, therefore, urged government to devise a clear roadmap on when and how it would undertake the issuance of timber licenses.

“Government need to be serious with what is doing because the licences which have been given to small scale producers cannot help in revenue generation. Government needs to include valuable timber species which will help producers to generate meaningful revenue,” he said.

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